Seoul, South KoreaCNN —Chinahas accused the United States of “stoking military confrontation” with the recent deployment of a powerful missile launcher capable of firing weapons with a range of up to 1,600 kilometers to exercises in the Philippines.
The US Army’s Mid-Range Capability (MRC) ground-based missile system arrives in a region on edge following a series ofdangerous Chinese-Philippine face-offsin the South China Sea, during which Philippine ships have been targeted with water cannons, injuring several Filipino sailors.
It’s the first-ever deployment of the MRC missile system, also known as the Typhon system, to the Indo-Pacific theater, and it comes amid a series of US-Philippine military exercises, including the largest-ever edition of the annual bilateral Balikatan drills beginning Monday.
The US Army has not said how long the Typhon system will remain in the Philippines, but its involvement in the series of joint exercises between the two treaty allies, the first of which began on April 8, sends a signal the US can put offensive weaponry well within striking distance of Chinese installations in the South China Sea, the southern Chinese mainland and along theTaiwanStrait, analysts say.
The Typhon system is capable of firing the Standard Missile 6 (SM-6), a ballistic missile defense munition that can also target ships at sea at a range of 370 kilometers (230 miles), according to the Missile Defense Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).
It also can fire the Tomahawk Land Attack Missile, a maneuverable cruise missile with a range of 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles), according to the CSIS.
US sends land-attack missile system to Philippines for exercises in apparent message to China | CNN
missile defense shield in exchange for trans rights in the Philippines is not a bad deal