U.S. Deploying Medium-Range Missiles to Asia

Sept. 10—The U.S. is not only ratcheting up tensions against Russia, but increasingly now with China as well.. A Sept. 5 article in Nikkei Asia has revealed that the U.S. has deployed medium-range missiles to the Philippines as part of an extended stay following a military drill earlier this year and is now planning on deploying them to Japan for six months or more as well. According to Nikkei, the Philippines deployment “is the first time elements of the ‘multi-domain task force,’ the U.S. Army’s new unit that operates long-range precision weapons, has been deployed to the Indo-Pacific.”

The system deployed is the Typhon missile launcher, and can fire Tomahawk cruise missiles (1,600+ km range), and the Standard Missile-6 multipurpose interceptor (370 km range). The Tomahawks are in the medium-range category—previously banned by the INF Treaty until the U.S. withdrew in 2019. In early April, the launcher was deployed to Luzon, Philippines to take part in Exercise Salaknib 24, and it was agreed they would remain in the Philippines for as long as six months.

Now, according to Nikkei, the U.S. has asked Japan to allow the stationing of these for a short time—as long as six months.. Even more startling, the U.S. has proposed that they be placed in Japan’s Southwest Islands, which are only a couple hundred miles away from Taiwan and would put much of China’s eastern seaboard within their range. Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth said at a Defense News Conference Virginia Sept. 4 that the U.S. is “very interested” in deploying the Typhon system to Japan, and that “We’ve made our interest in this clear with the Japanese.” “Our goal … in the Army has been to really try to have as much combat-credible capability forward” in the Indo-Pacific, for “six months a year or more. Demonstrating those kinds of combat capabilities strengthens deterrence in the region. I do think it’s gotten the attention of China. … It’s an impressive capability."

According to an Aug. 3 article in Nikkei Asia, the decision to station the hardware in the Philippines “has caused unease in Beijing.” An anonymous Chinese defense official, referencing the U.S. narrative that it seeks to stabilize its relations with China, said: “It’s like bringing a dagger to a lunch in which you are supposed to talk about improving relations.”

Liu Pengyu, the Chinese Embassy in Washington, told Nikkei: “China strongly opposes the U.S. deploying medium-range ballistic missiles in the Asia-Pacific to seek unilateral military advantage” and urged the Philippines to “quickly pull out the missile system as publicly pledged.” By letting the U.S. deploy the missile system on Philippine soil, “the Philippines is enabling a country outside the region to fuel tensions and antagonism in this region, and incite geopolitical confrontation and arms race."