ManilaTimes-Sept 26
American and Filipino security officials have agreed to keep a US mid-range missile system in the northern Philippines indefinitely to boost deterrence despite China’s expressions of alarm, two Philippine officials said on Wednesday. The US Army transported the Typhon missile system, a land-based weapon that can fire the Standard Missile-6 and the Tomahawk Land Attack Missile, to the northern Philippines as part of combat exercises in April with Philippine troops and to test its deployability aboard an Air Force aircraft. Tomahawk missiles can travel over 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers), which places China within their target range. Officials are considering keeping the missile system in the northern Philippines until April next year, when US and Philippine forces are scheduled to hold their annual Balikatan — Filipino for “shoulder-to-shoulder” — large-scale combat exercises, he said. The two officials spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. There was no immediate comment from US officials. At the sidelines of the defense exposition at the World Trade Center Wednesday, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. shrugged off objections by other countries for the immediate dismantling of the missile in the country. Teodoro said that if other countries feel uncomfortable with Manila bolstering its defense capability, they should lead by example and dismantle their ballistic missiles and nuclear armaments. Read more at:
