THE military says it plans to acquire the US Typhon missile system to protect its maritime interests.
The US Army deployed the mid-range missile system in the northern Philippines earlier this year for annual joint military exercises with its longtime ally, and decided to leave it there despite criticism by China that it was destabilising to Asia.
Since then, it has been used by Philippine forces to train for its operation.
“It is planned to be acquired because we see its feasibility and its functionality in our concept of archipelagic defence implementation,” Philippine Army chief Lieutenant-General Roy Galido said yesterday.
“I’m happy to report to our fellow countrymen that your army is developing this capability for the interest of protecting our sovereignty,” he said, adding that the total number to be acquired would depend on “economics”.
The presence of the US missile launcher in the northern Philippines had angered Beijing, whose navy and coast guard forces have engaged in escalating confrontations in recent months with the Philippines over disputed reefs and waters in the South China Sea.Beijing claims almost the entire South China Sea despite an international ruling that its assertion has no legal basis.
As a rule, it takes at least two or more years for the Philippine military to acquire a new weapons system from the planning stage, Galido said, adding that it was not yet budgeted for 2025.
It took five years for Manila to take delivery of the BrahMos cruise missile last year, he added.
The land-based “mid-range capability” Typhon missile launcher, created by US firm Lockheed Martin for the US Army, has a range of 480km, though a longer-range version is in development.Galido said the Typhon system would enable the army to “project force” outwards up to 370km, which is the limit of the archipelago nation’s maritime entitlements under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. — AFP
