By AFP | 2025-01-28

A Philippine platoon will be trained on using a US mid-range missile system next month, ahead of joint drills, Manila's military said January 28.

The US military deployed the Typhon missile system in the northern Philippines last year as part of an annual joint exercise, but it was not removed after the war games ended.

Chinese forces have engaged in several confrontations with Philippine vessels in recent months over disputed reefs and waters in the South China Sea.

Last month, the Philippine army said it was planning to acquire the Typhon system as part of a push to secure its maritime interests.

A new platoon from the Philippine Army Artillery Regiment will receive "orientation and familiarization" training on the system, starting in the second or third week of February, army spokesman Col. Louie Dema-ala said in a news conference.

Philippine-US army training

The week-long training will involve troops from the 1st Multi-Domain Task Force of the US Army Pacific, Dema-ala added.

"This is a continuation of what we've learned in the first [training] iteration. New units will be involved in the training and a continuation of the previous platoon that was trained last year," Dema-ala said.

"As long as MRC [mid-range missile capability] is here, we maximize its utilization to train our personnel in new technology," he added.

The training is in preparation for this year's Salaknib, an annual joint exercise between the Philippines and US armies, he said.

The training location is secret, he told reporters, noting that participants will not fire the Typhon system.

Moving the launcher from its initial location to a different part of the country is a test "to see how these logistical trains can be transported to certain locations, to certain salient points," said Philippine military spokeswoman Col. Francel Padilla.

Protecting vessels 370km off coast

The Typhon system will be able to protect vessels up to 370km (200 nautical miles) off the coast, the limit of its maritime entitlement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, Philippine military officials have said.

Last week, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning renewed calls for the Philippines to "stop going further down the wrong path."

"Let me stress again that by bringing this strategic offensive weapon into this part of the world, the Philippines is essentially creating tensions and antagonism in the region and inciting geopolitical confrontation and an arms race," she said.

The Typhon Strategic Mid-Range Fires system, originally known as the Mid-Range Capability system, is built around four containerized strike-length cells from the Mk-41 Vertical Launch System, which is typically found on naval platforms.

These cells can launch both the Standard Missile-6 (SM-6) and the Tomahawk cruise missile, the latter of which has a range of 2,400km.