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 Intermediate-Range 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.

 China has denounced both the initial deployment and its extension as “provocative” and “destabilizing,” the FT report noted. AFP spokesperson Col. Frances Margareth Padilla, it added, has said that the AFP continued to train with the Typhon, including practicing its mobility because the Philippines is “looking at trying to procure” the system.

 Since Marcos Jr. took office in July 2022, his administration has “reinvigorated defense cooperation with the US, but such moves have exposed the Philippines to China’s wrath,” the FT observed. On Nov. 8, China’s foreign ministry summoned Ambassador Jaime FlorCruz to register protest after Marcos Jr. signed two laws that define the country’s sovereign rights in maritime zones and sea lanes, in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Vehemently, China’s foreign ministry denounced as “illegal” the new laws’ inclusion of reefs, islands and waters that they claim to be under Chinese jurisdiction.

Procuring medium-range capability missile launchers would be part of Marcos Jr.’s push to enable the AFP to “detect and deter threats,” the FT report said, “as he shifts the country’s focus from countering long-running insurgencies to protecting its sovereignty.”

The modernization effort, “backed by a tripling of the military’s budget, includes plans for several naval and air bases,” the report said.

It quoted Teodoro as saying the Typhon could complement the BrahMas supersonic anti-ship missiles that the AFP earlier procured from India. “It adds depth and increases deterrence [against a possible external armed attack],” the defense chief pointed out. That is because the Typhon system is suitable for missiles exceeding the 200-kilometer to 300-kilometer range of the BrahMas.

According to the FT report, the AFP is building its first BrahMas base on the west coast of Luzon, facing the disputed South China Sea. It also plans to reinforce other areas “including [Luzon’s] east coast, facing waters and airspaces that are key for US submarines and supply lines and where China is increasing its military activities.”

With more than 7,000 islands, the Philippines is at a “strategic intersection of shipping lanes that connect East Asia with Australia, Southeast Asia and India,” the report emphasized, recalling that some of the fiercest battles of World War II were fought in the straits and bays of our archipelago.

“The points for forward-operating bases would generally be where our archipelagic baselines are,” Teodoro said, referring to the outer lines of the country’s territorial sea. “I do believe that we need to put a lot of infrastructure in the eastern seaboard for air and naval basings.”

In a related development, Teodoro and his Australian counterpart, Defense Minister Richard Marles, have agreed that the AFP will, for the first time next year, join Australia’s largest military exercises dubbed as Talisman Sabre. In exchange, Australia’s Defense Forces will participate in next year’s Salaknib war games here between Philippine and US forces, focused on ground warfare tactics, as well as in the larger Balikatan exercises that will also involve Japan’s Self-Defense Forces.

The two defense chiefs concluded their first wide-ranging bilateral meeting on Wednesday in Canberra, Australia’s capital. The talks aimed at deepening their countries’ military ties amid China’s growing assertiveness in the West Philippine Sea (WPS). They reiterated “serious concerns” about the dangerous conduct by China against Philippine vessels, vowing to work together to uphold regional maritime security.

All countries must pursue peaceful dispute resolutions according to international law, they stressed, as they reaffirmed the “binding nature” of the 2016 Arbitral Tribunal ruling in favor of the Philippines and the importance of freedom of navigation in and overflights above the WPS.

As one of only two nations with whom the Philippines has a Visiting Forces Agreement – the other being the US – Australia is the country’s second-largest partner in defense and security.

The defense chiefs agreed to sign a new defense pact in 2025 that will formalize expanded training programs, official dialogues, leadership development and “infrastructure initiatives” under an Enhanced Defense Cooperation Program. They also welcomed increased maritime cooperation within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone – and activities to strengthen interoperability among the military forces of the US, Philippines, Japan and Australia.