Gov't to buy US missile launcher system Typhon?

Discreetly flown into the country last April, the Typhon mid-range capability missile system was deployed during the 39th Balikatan US-Phl joint military exercises, held a few days later (April 22 to May 10).

Capable of firing Tomahawk and SM-6 missiles, the newest ground-based missile system was shown off by the US Army to admiring military and civilian officials.

If fired from Northern Luzon – where it remains till now -- the missiles can reach as far as China. Expectedly, China reacted negatively to its deployment here.

At the time, I wrote in this space that the Marcos Jr. administration appears to be “slowly but surely allowing the country to be dragged into the massive US-led military build-up against China, threatening to engulf the whole region in war.”

The alarm was first raised by militant groups. In another piece on Oct. 26, I wrote that the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty allies have agreed to keep the Typhon here “indefinitely to boost deterrence despite China’s expression of alarm.” The alarm should be taken more seriously now.

Recently, the Financial Times (of London) reported that the Philippine government was aiming to buy the Typhon missile system, quoting Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro in an interview.

“We do intend to acquire [weapon] capability of such sort,” FT quoted Teodoro. “We will not compromise with our right to acquire any such kind of capabilities in the future within our territory.”

The British paper, which urged the reuse of its report, pointed out that the Typhon deployment in Northern Luzon was the first the US has done on an “intermediate-range missile system since the collapse of the IntermediateRange Nuclear Force Treaty in 2019.” The treaty barred the US and Russia from developing or deploying any nuclear or conventional missile system with ranges from 500 to 5,500 kilometers.