The US wants to deploy a previously banned missile system to Japan for military drills, Nikkei Asia reported Thursday.
The Typhon missile launcher is a ground-based system that can fire nuclear-capable Tomahawk missiles, which have a range of more than 1,000 miles. Ground-based missiles with a range between 310 and 3,400 miles were banned by the Intermediate Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, which the US withdrew from in 2019. The Typhon also fires SM-6 missiles, which can hit targets up to 290 miles away.
The US deployed a Typhon system to the Philippines for military drills, a move that China viewed as a major provocation. The missile system was sent to the Philippines for several months. It was first deployed for the drills that started in April, and Manila said it would be pulled out in September, meaning it could still be there.
The Philippines said China expressed “very dramatic” alarm over the deployment of the Typhon system. Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Wu Qian said the deployment “put the entire region under the fire of the United States (and) brought huge risks of war into the region.”
US Army Secretary Christine Wormuth said on Wednesday that she told Japanese officials the US wanted to deploy the Typhon to Japan next. “We’ve made our interest in this clear with the Japanese Self-Defense Forces,” she said at a Defense News conference in Virginia.
Wormuth said the US would also look to keep it in Japan for several months. “Our goal…in the Army has been to really try to have as much combat-credible capability forward” in the Indo-Pacific west of the international dateline, she said, according to Nikkei.
Wormuth claimed the deployment “strengthens deterrence” in the region and said the missile system has “gotten the attention of China.” She said there is “a lot of potential” for moving US troops and equipment around Japan’s southwestern islands, which are near Taiwan.
US officials say the US is building up its military presence near China in the name of deterrence, but the steps have only escalated tensions in the region, making a conflict more likely. Wormuth and other US officials are also openly planning for a direct confrontation with China despite the obvious risk of nuclear war.
Wormuth said last year that the US was preparing to fight and win a war with China. “I personally am not of the view that an amphibious invasion of Taiwan is imminent,” she said. “But we obviously have to prepare, to be prepared to fight and win that war.”
Yes, of course- the old 'let's make our allies more likely to be targeted than us' strategy. China is right to see potential nuclear delivery missiles on their doorstep as a provocation. Shades of 1962.
Sorry, John. I noticed a typo. It's not a "provocation." China should see this as "an un-provocation." Remember Ukraine?
Dude! What's wrong with me? "US Wants To Deploy Controversial Missile System to Japan." My neighbors read all the same news titles and still believe unshakingly that we, the US, is the force for good in the world.
Classic "it's OK if we do it" rationale. That and "anything's fine that doesn't affect me, or if it benefits me."
I'm inclined to suspect both of these are the motivations and ethos of the pro-Ukraine and pro-Israel fringe Commenters on here.
Yes. We have always been the good guys. We always do things for the best of reasons and for the benefits of everyone. We destroy nations for their own sake.
😂😆
This is always about the protection of trade routes in the Pacific Ocean
Someone like Christine Wormuth is a constant reminder of my own profound stupidity. I sincerely thought that women in power might bring us peace– might be the solution. …I know. Killary was right from that respect and she remains my biggest nightmare of a reminder.
I thought so too. I think it's just a political culture where women have to act like men in order to seem credible.
"We came, we saw, he died, cackle, cackle, cackle"
you tube:
The woman is one evil b*tch.
Is this where Kamala learned that laugh?
I swear to G-d we are pushing the envelope toward our extinction.
"Wormuth" should change her name to "Warmouth" to more correctly identify herself.
Фул, Амеріка!!
Why not just launch them to Tokyo and save the shipping costs?
Inventive, repetitive behaviour… … … … … ….
Joey Biden in a farwell speech in Ireland said "Let's like The World"!
FJB the great evil divider of humanity!
The west is dying and they want to drag as many with them.
https://www.state.gov/new-start/#:~:text=Treaty%20Duration%3A%20The%20treaty's%20original,force%20through%20February%204%2C%202026.
New START Treaty
https://www.state.gov/new-start/#:~:text=Treaty%20Duration%3A%20The%20treaty's%20original,force%20through%20February%204%2C%202026.
New START Treaty
The treaty becomes less than meaningful and enforceable if one considers nuclear sovereigns as France, the UK, China, and Israel aren't treaty signatories. Pakistan, India, and Saudi Arabia are alleged to also have nuclear missile programs.
What about US nuclear weapons on foreign soil? Well, all's fair in love and war.