US Moves Typhoon System Closer to China: What It Means and What Will Happen

l'US Army sent to First time Components of its new land-based missile system abroad TyphonParticipate in an exercise Philippines. The Typhon can launch cruise missiles Tomahawk and multi-purpose missiles SM-6 “Standard”The latter, at least initially, would operate in a ground-attack mode like a ballistic missile.

The arrival of the Typhon system sends a clear signal Beijing And it can be seen as a preview of what the future may look like with the implementation of new US-Philippines joint plans to establish a permanent presence in the islands. In response to China's increasingly aggressive approach in the South China Sea, the Philippine government has actually struck deals with Washington to open new US military bases in the archipelago.

Returning to Typhon, It is not clear Components of the complex launch system have been deployed in the Philippines to participate in the “Salaknip 24” exercise that began last April 8 and will end on Friday the 19th, and we don't even know if the test firing will take place or where they are at this time. Armed with Tomahawk cruise missiles, the Typhon allows you to place land and sea targets under fire at a radius of approximately 1600 miles, while using SM-6s (born as air defense and anti-missile missiles). Weapons are surface-to-surface, providing additional capabilities and flexibility.

From the island of Luzon, a Tomahawk has sufficient range to reach the southeastern corner of China, Hainan Island with its major naval bases, and islands occupied from China to the south. Beijing has established military forces in the China Sea. This last point is important given the current tensions between Beijing and Manila over sovereignty over an atoll in disputed waters.

The Typhon system consists of four vertical launchers on semi-trailers, a command post, reloading and support vehicles on trailers. Launch data (including tracking data for the SM-6) is provided by external sources, and a complete battery employs four launch vehicles, with a total of 16 missiles ready to fire. The most improved SM-6 variant currently in service, the Black IA, is a surface-to-air missile used by the US Navy but also capable of hitting ground targets, while the Tomahawk is primarily a surface-to-air missile, but current. Some versions also have anti-ship capability. A new Block IB variant of the SM-6 is currently under development and will have improved hypersonic speed and other capabilities and is expected to be used by the Typhon system.

At this time, China has not expressed its opinion directly on this issue, but prefers to to emphasize The alliance between the United States and the Philippines encourages a hegemonic power to act toward a subsidiary as a guarantor of its security. Supports The government in Manila has called on Beijing to stop arguing that its claims over the South China Sea are “absolutely justified, justified and beyond reproach” and that it will never allow the Philippines to act voluntarily on the issue.

Often the Politburo's silence becomes a A demonstration of strength By increasing coercive and aggressive actions against Philippine shipping or by conducting some form of air-naval exercises in those disputed waters following these maneuvers between the Philippines and the United States.

In the medium term, the deployment of mobile systems for anti-ship and anti-ship missiles on Chinese-occupied islands in the already militarized Spratly and Paracelsus Archipelago cannot be ruled out. Territory.