U.S. officials are “testing the feasibility” of converting naval missile systems into land-based platforms in the Philippines, an American ally that faces a tense territorial dispute with China.
“We are testing the feasibility of bringing this weapon system by air and offloading [it] into a secure and established space,” Philippine Army Col. Michael Logico told reporters this week.
Logico offered that insight as Philippine forces prepare for a major joint military exercise with the United States, Australia, and France. The annual drill, known as Balikatan, will take place in the South China Sea after weeks of confrontations with Chinese Coast Guard and militia vessels that have blocked Philippine forces from delivering supplies to outposts in the disputed area — a context not lost on Chinese officials, who warned the Philippines not to coordinate with the U.S.
“Attempts to bring in external forces to safeguard its so-called security will only lead to greater insecurity for itself,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said on Thursday.
Philippine officials dismissed Beijing’s complaints and countered that the communist regime’s attempt to assert sovereignty over most of the South China Sea, even in areas where that vast waterway approaches Philippine beaches, has driven the potential for conflict.
“The source of tension in our region is well known to all. China should reflect upon its own actions in the South China Sea and the West Philippine Sea,” the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs announced on Thursday. “It is China’s excessive maritime claims and aggressive behavior, including its militarization of reclaimed features, that are undermining regional peace and stability and raising tensions.”
Chinese Coast Guard vessels have damaged Philippine vessels in recent weeks while blocking supply deliveries to a military outpost in the Second Thomas Shoal. The upcoming exercises will be in a different region of the South China Sea, but Philippine officials didn’t miss the opportunity to warn against any “intrusion” by foreign forces.
“There will be no interlopers … who are entering the training area, for their safety, of course,” Logico said, per the South China Morning Post. “An intrusion into our exercise area is a possibility, but that will pose more of a problem for the people who want to enter the exercise area, not us.”
The drills will include about 16,000 military personnel who will operate together between April 22 and May 8 off the northern coast of the Philippines. “It will be the first time the mega drills are being carried out beyond Philippine territorial waters,” Logico said.
The exercises point to the allies’ desire to base a variety of land-based missile systems in the Philippines. The system that will be in the spotlight during Balikatan 2024 is an SM-6, “the only missile that supports anti-air warfare, anti-surface warfare and sea-based terminal ballistic missile defense in one solution,” according to a Raytheon description.
The attempt to deploy it on land comes just days after U.S. Army officials announced the deployment of another land-based, mid-range capability missile system to the northern Philippines.
“This is a significant step in our partnership with the Philippines, our oldest treaty ally in the region,” U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Bernard Harrington announced on Monday. “We’re grateful to our partners in the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and we’re excited to expand our security cooperation as we bring this new capability to Luzon.”
Chinese officials warned the Philippines to “think twice” about hosting such missile systems.
“China strongly opposes the U.S. deploying medium-range ballistic missiles in the Asia-Pacific and strengthening forward deployment at China’s doorstep to seek unilateral military advantage,” Lin said. “The Philippines needs to see and be mindful of what the U.S. is truly after and the consequence of going along with the U.S. on deploying MRBMs. The Philippines needs to think twice about being a cat’s paw for the U.S. at the expense of its own security interests, and stop sliding down the wrong path.”
The SM-6, which can be fired from the mid-range capability system, could mitigate the threat of Chinese missile attacks. Chinese forces have developed an array of land-based missile systems with the range to strike U.S. positions as far away as Guam. Some of those missiles are designed to target U.S. Navy ships — one anti-ship ballistic missile, the DF-21, is known as a “carrier killer,” a moniker justified in part by China’s construction of carrier-shaped targets at missile test sites.
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Raytheon announced last month that an SM-6 battery “intercepted a medium-range ballistic missile target at sea in its final seconds of flight.” The deployment of such a capability to the Philippines suggests that Washington and Manila are developing land-based planes to counter those attacks.
“The purpose of an armed forces, why we exist, is to prepare for war,” Logico said. “There’s no sugarcoating it.”
