Philippines set to host second Typhon missile system, signalling Trump’s defence pledge
He added that the Typhon’s presence signalled renewed US commitment to the region, which would be further reinforced by separate visits to the Philippines by US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth this week and Secretary of State Marco Rubio next month.
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“The announcement of a second battery is also a politically symbolic message to China if it coincides with the visits of Rubio and Hegseth to the region,” Rahman told This Week in Asia.
Without naming any country, Rahman said an adversary would likely target a Typhon missile battery early in a conflict to neutralise its capability. “A second battery would then be necessary for the Philippines to maintain its territorial defence if the first battery is neutralised,” he added.
Chester Cabalza, president of the Manila-based think tank International Development and Security Cooperation, said the additional Typhon deployment would allow the US to cement its position as the dominant military force in the Indo-Pacific such as through the Balikatan exercise.
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Pentagon chief to visit Philippines for security talks, envoy says
Hegseth will be in Manila on March 28-29 to meet his Philippine counterpart, Gilberto Teodoro, and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. Talks will touch on increasingly assertive actions by Beijing in the South China Sea and “more significant support” to Philippine security forces by the Trump administration, Philippine Ambassador to the U.S. Jose Manuel Romualdez told The Associated Press.
US Secretary Rubio set for PH trip to boost Indo-Pacific alliance
Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel Romualdez said there is no exact date for the visit as of yet but “probably by April” after the trip of US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to Manila next week.
The U.S. Missile Launcher That Is Enraging China
Last year, the U.S. Army moved the Typhon Missile System, which can fire missiles as far as 1,200 miles, to a base on Luzon Island in the northern Philippines. It is the first time since the Cold War that the U.S. military has deployed a land-based launching system with such a long range outside its borders.
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Now, the Typhon, which was moved to the Philippines during the Biden administration, has emerged as an important litmus test amid concerns among American allies over the Trump administration’s willingness to come to their defense in a conflict with China. A visit to the Philippines and Japan by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth this week could provide more clarity on the administration’s Indo-Pacific strategy.
The Typhon can fire two types of missiles. Tomahawk missiles bearing conventional warheads have a range of around 1,200 miles, putting into reach much of southeastern China along with the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait. In the case of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, such missiles could target air-defense and radar systems on the Chinese coast as well as the Chinese military’s control-and-command centers in Guangzhou and Nanjing.
The shorter-range Standard Missile 6, or SM-6, could target Chinese or other enemy ships and aircraft, and intercept cruise missiles and ballistic missiles fired at U.S. interests. Army officials have said that it is the only missile in the U.S. arsenal capable of intercepting, at least in late flight, the hypersonic missiles that both China and Russia have been testing.
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There have been some signs that the Trump administration also sees the Typhon as key to its strategy in the Indo-Pacific.
“We proved the MRC’s deterrent effect via a dynamic deployment in the Philippines and look forward to all future power projection opportunities!” Dan Driscoll, the new Army secretary, said in a post on X earlier this month, using the abbreviation for the army’s technical name for the Typhon, Mid-Range Capability.
Others, however, have warned that moving such powerful U.S. missile systems close to China risks a spiral of escalation and, perhaps by accident, a war between two nuclear superpowers.
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But in the wake of Trump’s talks with Putin over Ukraine, there are also concerns in the Philippines that Typhon could become part of a deal between Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Such a deal might sacrifice the interests of the smaller American ally, said Richard Heydarian, a lecturer in international studies at the University of the Philippines’s Asian Center.
What’s Really Going On In the South China Sea Between the Philippines and China
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) estimates that about 80% of global trade is carried out by sea, both in terms of volume and value. Of that amount, 60% of marine trade travels through Asia, with approximately one-third of all shipping occurring in the South China Sea. Because the Strait of Malacca connects the South China Sea and, consequently, the Pacific and Indian oceans, China, Taiwan (the United States does not officially support Taiwan’s independence), Japan, and South Korea depend heavily on its waters. China’s economic security is intimately linked to the South China Sea, as the country has the second-largest economy globally and more than 60% of its trade is conducted by water. If the U.S. were to attempt to enforce a blockade in the South China Sea, they would risk retaliation from China.
A war with China would not only interrupt international trade, it’s highly probable that the United States would lose due to China’s anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) capabilities. Anti-Access refers to any action, activity, or capacity, usually long-range, that is intended to prevent an advancing military force from accessing an operational area. Area denial is described as any action, activity, or capability, usually short-range, that is intended to limit an adversary force’s freedom of action inside an operational area. Long-range artillery and rocket weapons, air defenses, littoral anti-ship capabilities, and layered, integrated long-range precision-strike systems are all part of the threat A2/AD defense architecture. China’s advanced A2/AD system includes missiles and hypersonic weapons, which the US lacks defense against. China is also developing microwave-photonic radar systems to track incoming hypersonic missiles, potentially enabling defense against powerful militaries’ latest offensive technologies.
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