PH Navy: US NMESIS anti-ship missiles to remain in country for more exercises
'This is to confirm that the NMESIS is still within the country and it will continue to be used by the Philippine Marine Corps for training purposes,' Philippine Navy spokesperson Captain John Percie Alcos said in a press briefing.
'As to its current location due to operational security, I cannot disclose that. But I can tell you that it's still inside the country,' he added.
The NMESIS is a ground-based anti-ship missile system deployed by the United States Marine Corps' Marine Littoral Regiments for coastal defense and maritime security operations. The Naval Strike Missile it fires has a range of up to 300 kilometers.
The missile system was initially deployed to the Philippines in April to be used for this year's Balikatan Exercise between US and Filipino forces.
The Philippine Marine Corps (PMC) and the USMC also trained with NMESIS during the Kamandag Exercise in May.
Alcos said the initial plan to use the NMESIS for a live fire exercise in Kamandag did not proceed due to safety precautions.
'However, we simulated the firing. So we were able to make the most out of the training opportunity of having the NMESIS here,' Alcos said.
'And we were not only supposed to fire the NMESIS. It was supposed to be a combined fires exercise. Although the NMESIS was just simulated, we were able to fire the 105mm and 155mm howitzers,' he added.
The NMESIS will be the second advanced missile system from the US to be present in Philippine territory. Last March, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) welcomed reports on the second deployment of the US Army's Typhon Mid-Range Capability (MRC) missile system in the country. Typhon can launch multipurpose missiles at targets that are thousands of kilometers away. —RF, GMA Integrated News
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