Philippines says it will acquire U.S. Typhon missile system, sparking warnings from China

The Philippines said Monday it planned to acquire the U.S. Typhon missile system as part of a push to secure its maritime interests, sparking warnings from China of a regional “arms race.”

The U.S. 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 Beijing that it was destabilizing to Asia.

Philippine Army Chief Lieutenant-General Roy Galido told a news conference on Monday that the missile system would be “acquired because we see its feasibility and its functionality in our concept of archipelagic defense implementation.”

“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 cost of the acquisition would depend on “economics.”

The presence of the U.S. missile launcher 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, a key global shipping route, despite an international ruling that its assertion has no legal basis.

Manila and Washington, longstanding treaty allies, have deepened their defense cooperation since Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos took office in 2022 and began pushing back on Beijing’s claims to the South China Sea.

The U.S. lays no claims in the South China Sea but has warned that it is obligated to defend the Philippines if its forces come under attack there, and has declared that freedom of navigation is among its core national interests.

And on Monday, China swiftly condemned the decision to acquire the system as a “provocative and dangerous move” and warned it risked triggering an “arms race.”

“It is an extremely irresponsible choice for the history of its own people and the people of Southeast Asia, as well as for regional security,” China’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said Monday.

“The region needs peace and prosperity, not missiles and confrontation,” she added, urging Manila to “correct its wrong practices as soon as possible.”

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 Monday, adding 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, developed by Lockheed Martin for the U.S. Army, has a range of 300 miles, though a longer-range version is in development.

Galido said the Typhon system would enable the army to “project force” outwards up to 200 nautical miles, which is the limit of the archipelago nation’s maritime entitlements under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

“You have to take note of the fact that at 200 nautical miles, there is no land there and the army cannot go there,” he said.

The Typhon platform “will protect our floating assets,” he said, a reference to ships of the Philippine navy and coast guard and other vessels.

Chinese Defence Minister Dong Jun warned in June that the Typhon deployment was “severely damaging regional security and stability.”

But Galido dismissed the criticism of the Typhon system in the Philippines.

“We should not be bothered by others’ seeming insecurities because we don’t have any plans to go outside of our country’s interests,” he said.