Latest news with #Mid-RangeCapability
Axios
02-04-2025
- Politics
- Axios
Ship-killing NMESIS heads to Philippines as China protests Typhon
The U.S. will deploy ship-sinking missile launchers in the Philippines this spring as part of a military exercise also involving Australia and Japan. Why it matters: The planned appearance of the Navy-Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System, or NMESIS, at Balikatan 2025 comes amid games of chicken in the South China Sea. Beijing also continues to protest the U.S. Army's Mid-Range Capability, or Typhon, which will be tested fired at Talisman Sabre, another drill, according to Defense News. The latest: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth visited the Indo-Pacific last week, pledging to "reestablish deterrence" in a region the previous administration considered vital to international peace and commerce. Zoom in: NMESIS pairs specialized Joint Light Tactical Vehicles with Naval Strike Missiles, which can hit targets at distances greater than 100 nautical miles. The weapon is a key component of Force Design, an overhaul of the Marine Corps' offensive and defensive capabilities. What's next: The Balikatan drills kick off later this month, amassing some 15,000 troops.
South China Morning Post
26-03-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
Philippines set to host second Typhon missile system, signalling Trump's defence pledge
A potential second deployment of the US-made Typhon missile system in the Philippines has been hailed as a strong signal of Washington's commitment to the defence of its long-time Southeast Asian ally even as China continues to perceive its presence as a threat to regional security. Advertisement Analysts said such a decision would allay concerns among Washington's Indo-Pacific allies and underscore the Donald Trump administration's intention to cement its military presence in the region. 'This is a welcome development for the AFP … We can say that the more, the merrier. The more assets we have, the more that we are able to train more personnel,' Colonel Francel Margareth Padilla, the spokeswoman for the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), told reporters on Tuesday. The US deployed one Typhon unit – also known as the Mid-Range Capability – to Northern Luzon in April last year as part of joint military drills, and it has remained there since. The Philippines has previously urged the US to further bolster its defence capabilities by adding a second Typhon unit. Capable of launching Tomahawk cruise missiles with a range of up to 2,500km (1,550 miles), the Typhon can reach areas in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait. Advertisement
Yahoo
21-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
US Army will not conduct Typhon live-fire at exercises in Philippines
The U.S. Army will not conduct a live-fire operation of its Mid-Range Capability missile system, known as Typhon, during exercises in the Philippines this spring, according to the service commander in charge of U.S. Army Pacific operations. 'We are not planning to conduct live-fire in the Philippines right now,' Maj. Gen. Jeffrey VanAntwerp, deputy chief of staff of operations, plans and training at U.S. Army Pacific, told reporters in a media briefing Thursday. The news comes almost a year after the Army's 1st Multi-Domain Task Force transported a Typhon launcher to Luzon, Philippines, as part of that year's Salaknib exercise — marking the first time the new capability, deemed vital to the U.S. Army's strategy in the Indo-Pacific, had been deployed. The missile system traveled more than 8,000 miles from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, aboard a C-17 Globemaster cargo aircraft on a 15-hour flight. Typhon has since remained in the country, angering China, which has criticized the move and warned it could destabilize the region. Officials have yet to fire the missile system in the Philippines. It is unclear how long Typhon will remain in the Philippines or if it will go elsewhere in the Pacific theater. In response to a question on where the system might be headed next, VanAntwerp said, 'We're making plans, but I have to defer to [the Office of the Secretary of Defense].' The Lockheed Martin-built system, consisting of a vertical launch system that uses the Navy's Raytheon-built Standard Missile-6 and Tomahawk missiles, can strike targets in the 500- to 2,000-kilometer range. The complete system has a battery operations center, four launchers, prime movers and modified trailers. The missile system is capable of sinking ships, hitting land targets at long ranges and is 'mobile and survivable,' VanAntwerp said. As part of this year's Salaknib and Balikatan military drills between the U.S. and the Philippines, the Philippine Navy plans to fire C-Star, Spike Non-Line-of-Sight and Mistral missiles. The country's military will not fire its Brahmos medium-range ramjet supersonic cruise missile, which has a higher price point per shot. Typhon's presence in the Philippines has prompted other countries in the Pacific region to inquire about the possibility of hosting the weapon system, a U.S. defense official recently told Defense News. The Army knew Typhon would have a strong deterrent effect, but didn't expect it to have an effect as great as has been observed over the past year, the official said, particularly in rattling China. The biggest challenge now is transporting the capability around the Pacific — if the desire is to rotate it in and out of countries — due to the high costs of moving equipment, the official said. Meanwhile, the Army's 3rd MDTF, headquartered in Hawaii, is slated to soon receive its Typhon battery, which the service has certified at JBLM. 'We're constantly looking for opportunities to exercise capability like that forward in theater,' Col. Michael Rose, the 3rd MDTF commander, said recently. 'We learn enormous lessons by bringing capability into the theater.' Rose said the Army anticipates the Typhon supporting Operation Pathways, a series of year-round exercises designed to strengthen cooperation with regional allies and deter China. Noah Robertson and Leilani Chavez contributed to this report.
South China Morning Post
31-01-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
Philippine's Marcos Jnr offers to return US Typhon missiles if China ends ‘aggressive' acts
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr has publicly offered to remove the US-made Typhon missile system from his country if China ceases its 'aggressive and coercive behaviour' in the South China Sea Advertisement Security experts view the proposal as a rhetorical challenge rather than a genuine attempt at negotiation, given the unlikelihood of Beijing curbing its claims over the disputed waterway. Marcos Jnr made his pledge on Thursday during the inauguration of an airport runway in Cebu, linking China's numerous objections to the Typhon's presence in the Philippines to Beijing's own missile arsenal. 'I don't understand their comments on the Typhon missile system. We don't make any comments on their missile systems and their missile systems are a thousand times more powerful than what we have,' Marcos Jnr said. China has yet to respond to the president's remarks, but it has repeatedly demanded the Typhon's removal since the land-based system, known formally as the Mid-Range Capability (MRC) missile launcher, was delivered to the Philippines in April by US forces for use in joint drills. American and Filipino soldiers fire an ATMOS 155mm Howitzer during as part of US-Philippines army-to-army joint drills on April 26, 2024, in Laur, Nueva Ecija province, Philippines. Photo: Jeoffrey Maitem The launcher has remained in the country since then and the Philippines has announced plans to acquire a Typhon system of its own.
