The US military's mid-range missile system 'Typhon' [Photo courtesy of the US military website]

The US military's latest mid-range missile system, 'Typhon,' will be deployed in joint US-Japan exercises scheduled from the 22nd of this month to October, Japanese media reported on the 21st.

It is anticipated that the Typhon will be stored at Self-Defense Forces or US Forces Japan bases even after the exercises conclude, in preparation for potential contingencies.

According to sources including the Nikkei and Asahi Shimbun, the US military will deploy the Typhon in the multinational joint exercise 'Valiant Shield,' which begins on the 22nd.

The Japan Self-Defense Forces will participate in this exercise.

For the exercise, the US military will temporarily deploy the Typhon at the Kanoya Air Base of the Maritime Self-Defense Force in Kagoshima Prefecture.

The Typhon, a system for anti-ship and land attack, can also be armed with Tomahawk missiles with a range of approximately 1,600 km. If launched from Kanoya, it would be within range of Beijing, China.

In Japan, it was first temporarily deployed at the Iwakuni base in Yamaguchi Prefecture during the US-Japan joint exercise 'Resolute Dragon' last September.

In this 'Valiant Shield' exercise, the system's operations, from setup to launch, will be reviewed under the assumption of attacking enemy vessels during joint US-Japan operations; live firing will not occur.

The Typhon is also scheduled to be used in 'Orient Shield,' a regular joint exercise between the US military and the Ground Self-Defense Force, in September, and is expected to be withdrawn around mid-October to be stored at a US Forces Japan base.

A Self-Defense Forces official explained to the Nikkei that this storage is "different from an immediate deployment," but an opinion has emerged within the Japanese government that "deployment is possible when necessary, and domestic storage serves as a deterrent against China."

The Asahi Shimbun reported that the US desires the deployment of Typhon in Japan due to a significant disparity in mid-range missile capabilities with China.

The US had not possessed ground-launched mid-range missiles with ranges of approximately 500 to 5,500 km since signing the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) with the former Soviet Union in 1987.

However, China is known to possess close to 2,000 such missiles.

The US withdrew from the INF during the first term of President Donald Trump's administration in 2019 and has since pursued the development and deployment of mid-range missiles.

Therefore, while this deployment is being presented as 'temporary,' the possibility of the US seeking to permanently deploy Typhon in Japan in the future is also emerging.

This deployment is expected to provoke a backlash from China.

When the Typhon was first temporarily deployed at the Iwakuni base in September last year, China at the time protested, stating it "increases the risk of regional arms races and military confrontation."

The US military had also faced Chinese backlash for continuing the deployment of Typhon in the Philippines, where it was first introduced in Asia, even after 2024 exercises.