The United States plans to deploy more high-tech missile systems to the Philippines to deter aggression in the South China Sea, according to a joint statement issued after annual talks in Manila between U.S. and Philippine officials. The statement, released Tuesday, described the alliance’s work for this year as including steps “to increase deployments of U.S. cutting-edge missile and unmanned systems to the Philippines,” and it linked the effort to maintaining peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific.
China has repeatedly raised alarm about missile systems installed in the northern Philippines, including a U.S. mid-range missile system called the Typhon installed in 2024 and an anti-ship missile launcher installed last year. Beijing has asked the Philippines to withdraw the systems, warning they were aimed at containing China’s rise and threatening regional stability, while Manila has rejected the demand.
In Tuesday’s statement, the longtime treaty allies said they “underscored their support for preserving freedom of navigation and overflight, unimpeded lawful commerce and other lawful uses of the sea for all nations.” The statement also said the sides “condemned China’s illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive activities in the South China Sea, recognizing their adverse effects on regional peace and stability and the economies of the Indo-Pacific and beyond.”
The missile plans build on steps already underway in the Philippines. Jose Manuel Romualdez, the Philippine ambassador to Washington who took part in Monday’s talks, said U.S. and Philippine defense officials discussed the possible deployment this year of “upgraded” types of U.S. missile launchers that the Philippines may eventually decide to purchase. Romualdez also said the Typhon missile system deployed to Luzon in April 2024 and an anti-ship launcher, the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System, deployed in April last year to Luzon have remained in place.
Romualdez told The Associated Press that the U.S. missile deployments to the Philippines were not meant to antagonize any country. “It’s purely for deterrence,” he said. “Every time the Chinese show any kind of aggression, it only strengthens our resolve to have these types.” He also said that during joint drills, U.S. forces have demonstrated the missile systems to batches of Filipino forces to familiarize them with the weapons’ capabilities and usage.
The United States has also deployed the anti-ship missile system to Batan island in Batanes, in the northernmost Philippine province, which faces the Bashi Channel just south of Taiwan. According to the report, the sea passage is a critical trade and military route that the U.S. and Chinese militaries have sought to gain strategic control of, and the military and political stakes are underscored by rising confrontations between Chinese and Philippine coast guard forces in disputed waters.
While the joint statement did not detail planned missile deployments, the report said the Typhon missile launchers are land-based and can fire the Standard Missile-6 and the Tomahawk Land Attack Missile. It said Tomahawk missiles can travel over 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers), placing China within their target range from Luzon. The report also noted that Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan are involved in territorial standoffs in the South China Sea.