US Army Places US Typhon Missiles In Japan For First Time, Enraging China

The United States continues using regional Asian allies to counter-signal China and flex its military might, following President Xi Jinping’s massive military parade marking the 80th anniversary of World War II, which gripped the world’s attention two weeks ago.

This week the US Army has unveiled a midrange Typhon missile system on a Japanese base for the first time. The deployment comes in the context of the annual bilateral exercise Resolute Dragon; however, US officials have made clear the Typhon won’t be fired, but is only there for training purposes.

We previewed earlier that the Typhon, also dubbed ‘Mid-Range Capability’, is a land-based missile launcher that can fire nuclear-capable Tomahawk missiles, which have a range exceeding 1,000 miles, and SM-6 missiles, which can hit targets up to 290 miles away.

The missile system would have been banned under the Intermediate Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, a treaty with Russia that the US withdrew from in 2019. This has naturally caused immense alarm in Beijing, as has Washington’s deepening military relationship with Japan.

According to the latest from The Hill on the new military exercises:

More than 19,000 U.S. and Japanese service members are participating in the exercise by rehearsing crisis response and contingency operations, with a focus on controlling and defending key maritime terrain, according to the U.S. Department of Defense. 

Delivered last month to the U.S. base in Iwakuni, the missile system is capable of firing the Standard Missile-6 and the Tomahawk cruise missiles. The missile showcase follows its deployment in the Philippines last year. Russia and China criticized the U.S., accusing the country of fueling an arms race.

Col. Wade Germann, commander of the task force that operates the missile system, said at a televised press briefing in Japan that “Integrating this system into Resolute Dragon affords us the opportunity to conduct tough and realistic training with our partners.”

“Through employing multiple systems and different types of munitions, it is able to create dilemmas for the enemy,” he added. Beijing can’t help but assume it is the presumed “enemy” being talked about here.

On Tuesday, an alarmed and incensed Chinese Foreign Ministryurged the Typhon systems’ immediately removal from Japan.

“The US and Japan need to earnestly respect other countries’ security concerns and play a positive role for regional peace and stability with concrete actions, not the other way around,” the statement from spokesman Lin Jian said.

Beijing further called on Washington and Tokyo to “heed the call from regional countries, correct the wrong move and pull out the system as soon as possible. Due to its history of militarist aggression, Japan’s military and security moves always draw close attention from its Asian neighbors and the international community,” according to Lin’s words.