Much to the chagrin of China, the US had, in April, deployed its Typhon midrange missile system in the northern Philippines. Now, reports reveal that Philippine soldiers will train on the missile system during unilateral army drills planned in February as part of the preparations for a bigger exercise with the US military.
China, which opposes US military assistance to the Philippines, had warned that the deployment of a midrange missile by the Philippines would intensify geopolitical confrontation and an arms race. A few days ago, the US military moved the Typhon launchers from Laoag airfield in the Philippines to another location on the island of Luzon.
Philippine Army spokesperson Louie Dema-ala said a platoon of nearly 20 soldiers from the army artillery regiment will train with the US Army Pacific's First Multi-Domain Task Force in February.
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The exercise will focus on the "payload delivery system" and will highlight the system's capabilities.
"As long as the MRC (mid-range capability) is here, we maximise its utilisation to train our personnel with these new technologies," he said, reported Reuters.
The Philippines and the US have been intensifying military cooperation in a bid to counter an increasingly assertive China. The Philippines has already evinced interest in procuring the launchers as part of the plan to modernise its defence forces.
In December, a Philippines top army official told reporters that the military plans to acquire a midrange system to defend the country's territory amid tensions with China in the South China Sea. The defence plan includes protecting its exclusive economic zone, which reaches 200 nautical miles.
