There were speculations that the United States would deploy a second Typhon missile launcher in the Philippines, which could further anger China and increase the geopolitical risks.
Although Washington did not confirm that the US Army’s Multi-Domain Task Force would position a second Mid-Range Capability (MRC) in Manila’s northern region, the Philippine military said it would welcome the weapons system to enhance its deterrence capability.
Army Col. Francel Margareth Padilla, a military spokeswoman, said the possible deployment of a second US Typhon missile system would familiarize local troops with the weapon system.
“We can say that the more, the merrier,” Padilla said, welcoming the possible second MRC to the Philippines. “The more assets we have, the more we can train more personnel on our part.”
Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr declined to confirm nor deny the US plan to send a second Typhon missile launcher, raising speculations about its deployment.
Last year, the US Army was convincing Japan to accept the MRC, complementing the long-range High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) sent to its southern islands near Taiwan.
However, Tokyo was lukewarm to the MRC deployment, probably weighing how Beijing would react to the stationing of the offensive weapons systems.
In April 2024, the US moved the MRC, an offensive, strategic mid-range fire system, to the Indo-Pacific region, effectively reaching coastal areas in China from the northern Philippines.
The Typhon system is a mobile, ground-based launching system for Tomahawk cruise missiles and multi-purpose SM-6 missiles.
If a Tomahawk Block II TLAM-N, a land attack nuclear missile, is used, it could reach up to 2,500 km and deep into China’s mainland.
Beijing is so worried about the deployment that it has been urging Manila to remove the MRC from its territory.
It was convinced Washington had brought conventional warheads when it deployed the MRC systems during last year’s Army-led “Salaknib” exercises.
For this year’s series of joint drills, the US introduced the Navy-Marines Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS), its latest unmanned anti-ship land vehicle.
It is capable of hitting targets 100 nautical miles from the shore, threatening Chinese vessels around Bajo de Masinloc, a rocky outcrop that Beijing seized control of in 2012 after a three-month standoff with Manila’s coast guard.
As tensions rise in the Indo-Pacific region amid predictions of a possible China invasion of Taiwan in 2027, the US is expected to throw all its offensive and defensive weapons systems in the area.
It has moved its strategic bombers and nuclear-powered attack submarines to Guam, closer to the volatile region, and rotating two US carrier strike groups, fighters, and Marine expeditionary forces as well.
The MRC and NMESIS would not be the last missile systems to be sent to its oldest ally in the region.
For instance, the hypersonic Dark Eagle missile, an intermediate-range surface-to-surface weapons system used by the US Army Multi-Domain Task Force, could also be deployed to the Philippines.
The US has been developing, testing, and deploying intermediate-range missiles since 2019 when it abandoned the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty, a major disarmament agreement it signed with the former Soviet Union in the late 1980s.
More than 2,500 intermediate-range nuclear missiles which could hit targets from 1,000 to 5,500 kilometers were eliminated after the treaty was ratified in 1988.
President Donald Trump walked away from the treaty during his first term when the US felt its dominance was slipping because China was not a party to the INF deal and continued producing conventional and nuclear intermediate and long-range missiles.
The risk of a nuclear arms race looms as the development, testing, and deployment of missiles resumed after 2019.
Sen. Imee Marcos, an elder sister of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., had warned that China would target the Philippines because it has become a willing host to US missile systems.
Besides, the Philippines cannot detect if the US has brought nuclear weapons within its territory, a violation of the Bangkok treaty on banning nuclear weapons in the Southeast Asian region and of the 1987 Philippine Constitution as well.
The US deployment of offensive missile systems, like Typhon, NMESIS, and Dark Eagle in the future, would certainly drag the Philippines into a conflict if war in Taiwan erupts between the US and China.
China could target US forces’ presence in nine Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) locations and other strategic locations.
Without the global anti-missile defense system, the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), designed to intercept and destroy short, medium, and intermediate-range missiles, the Philippines is helpless in defending itself from Chinese attack.
However, the possible THAAD deployment would generate a more adverse reaction from Beijing, similar to what it did to Seoul when it agreed to THAAD’s deployment in 2017.
President Marcos should be cautious in hosting more advanced US missile systems because the Philippines lacks the capability and capacity to defend itself from potential Chinese attacks.
It cannot rely on Washington to defend the country and it has no financial resources and technical expertise to operate an anti-missile system.
There’s nothing wrong with the military in dreaming of an effective missile capability. It must defend itself against attack and guarantee to strike back when hit.
But, it’s more prudent not to be pulled into a deadly missile exchange among military powers.
The Philippines must keep its head low and stick to its position that the MRC and NMESIS were only for training purposes and no warheads were deployed to threaten a third country.
The Philippines still lacks a modest credible defense capability. It cannot fund and sustain an offensive and anti-missile system.