According to Japan's "Asahi Shimbun" and "Yomiuri Shimbun" reports, the US Army plans to deploy a new medium-range missile launch system in the Asia-Pacific region by the end of this year.
On April 3, local time, Charles Flynn, commander of the U.S. Army Pacific, said during his visit to Japan: "I will not discuss what system it is, nor will I say when and where (it will be deployed), I just say that there will be long-range precision fire capabilities into the area." ”
If the U.S. military implements this plan, it will be the first U.S. deployment of land-based intermediate-range missiles in the region since the end of the Cold War, and the first U.S. deployment of such weapons since Washington and Moscow signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty in 1987, which expired in 2019.
China has expressed its firm opposition to the US plan to promote the deployment of intermediate-range missiles in the Asia-Pacific region, and if the US insists on deploying it, it will be a provocation at China's "doorstep", and China will never sit idly by and take all necessary measures to resolutely counteract.
On April 3, local time, Charles Flynn, commander of the U.S. Army Pacific, delivered a speech at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo. (Source: Yomiuri Shimbun)
Flynn revealed the plan in an interview with Japanese media at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo, Japan, saying, "These [missile systems] will soon be introduced into the region through cooperation with our allies and partners in the region, as well as through our existing various joint exercises." ”
Japanese media said that the purpose of the US plan is to "strengthen deterrence against China", and mentioned China's development in land-based medium-range missiles, saying that the US military must therefore narrow the missile gap with China in the "Indo-Pacific region".
On the issue of modernizing China's missile capabilities, Flynn said that it is crucial for the US military to find ways to counter China's missile capabilities. He said he had been closely following China's missile modernization and reorganization, training and the scale of exercises over the past decade, and further exaggerated the so-called "threat" from China, claiming that China's "trajectory over the past decade is dangerous."
Accordingly, he called on the United States and its allies to do everything in their power to find ways to cooperate as partners, allies and friends throughout the region to prevent the so-called "threat" from further expanding.
On April 3, local time, Charles Flynn, commander of the U.S. Army Pacific, delivered a speech at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo. (Source: Asahi Shimbun)
Although Flynn did not disclose the name of the missile launch system planned to be deployed, Japanese media have said that it is believed to be the "Typhon system" (Typhon system), a land-based medium-range capability system being developed by the US Army. Inspired by ancient Greek mythology, Typhon is a powerful, flame-breathing monster capable of launching the Standard-6 missile and the Tomahawk cruise missile, which has a range of more than 1,600 kilometers.
"Typhon" system (Source: India's "Eurasian Times")
The Asahi Shimbun newspaper quoted a U.S. government source as saying that while Japan is one of the potential candidate deployment sites, the U.S. military's new medium-range missile system may be based on Guam and temporarily handed over to Japan for training purposes.
On January 18, 2024, the Japanese Ministry of Defense announced that the Japanese government has formally signed an agreement with the U.S. government on the purchase of Tomahawk cruise missiles. According to the agreement between the two countries, Japan will receive up to 400 Tomahawk cruise missiles from the United States in fiscal year 2025 to fiscal year 2027. (Source: Visual China)
A senior U.S. Defense Department official said that the United States will build a new missile launch system in the Asia-Pacific region that will narrow the gap with China in missile capabilities and enhance deterrence.
However, the US move may trigger an arms race in missile development and deployment, Japanese media said.
The INF Treaty prohibits the United States and Russia from possessing land-based short-range missiles with a range of between 500 and 1,000 kilometers, as well as land-based medium-range missiles with a range of between 1,000 and 5,500 kilometers.
In February 2019, the United States initiated the process of withdrawing from the INF Treaty, followed by Russia's announcement that it would suspend its obligations under the INF Treaty, which expired in August of the same year with the withdrawal of the United States.
After the INF Treaty expired, the US Army and Marine Corps have been fully developing new intermediate-range missile systems, and have continued to announce through the media that the United States will deploy intermediate-range missile systems in Japan or Guam.
In August 2020, the Nikkei newspaper reported that a U.S. official revealed that the U.S. might deploy intermediate-range missiles in Japan "to contain China."
In July 2023, the U.S. Army issued a statement saying that it had successfully launched a Tomahawk cruise missile using the Typhon system on June 27, 2023, and that this successful test confirmed that the system "is fully operationally capable."
In August 2023, India's Eurasian Times reported that the U.S. military is planning to massively strengthen Guam's air defense and anti-missile defense capabilities, and it can be seen from the propaganda materials shown by the U.S. Missile Defense Agency to Guam residents that a total of 20 separate sites will be proposed for the deployment of surface-to-air interceptor missiles, radars and other equipment.
Last November, U.S. Army Pacific Commander Flynn claimed that new medium-range land-based missiles would be deployed in the Asia-Pacific region in 2024 to deter Chinese mainland from striking Taiwan.
In this regard, Senior Colonel Wu Qian, director of the Information Bureau of the Ministry of National Defense and spokesman of the Ministry of National Defense, said at a regular press conference on 30 November last year that the United States' push to deploy intermediate-range missiles in the Asia-Pacific region is a dangerous move that will seriously threaten regional national security and seriously undermine regional peace and stability. What needs to be emphasized is that the Taiwan issue is purely China's internal affair and brooks no foreign interference, and no one or any force can stop the settlement of the Taiwan issue.
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