The US Army’s new presence in the Philippines and the push to contain China

The US has established a new army foothold in the Philippines with a rotational deployment designed to sustain the Typhon missile system and contain China, according to military analysts. The US Army has commenced rotational deployments in the Philippines, according to a post published on January 29 on the Defence Visual Information Distribution Service, the US military’s image and video hosting website. The photographs showed exchanges on January 12 between the Army Rotational Force-Philippines and the US Marine Corps, which already maintains its own rotational force in the country. The deployment marks the US Army’s first rotational unit in the Philippines – a development first reported by USNI News. Isaac Taylor, chief of public affairs for US Army Pacific, was quoted by media as saying that “the rotational force is not permanently assigned”. However, Taylor said it represented a shift from the “iterative engagement cycle” of previous years to a “more sustained rotational presence, enabling deeper and more consistent collaboration with our Philippine Army counterparts”. According to multiple US defence media outlets, the US Army rotational force has around 50 personnel, and rotations started in July. Although the unit’s location and specific duties remain undisclosed, a Chinese military analyst noted that it was probably meant to service the Typhon missile system deployed in the Philippines. Yue Gang, a retired People’s Liberation Army colonel, noted that the US-Philippines Mutual Defence Treaty formed the cornerstone of their military alliance, requiring concrete actions to underpin it. Yue said the unit’s deployment was related to the stationing of US intermediate-range missiles in the Philippines, namely the Typhon system on the island of Luzon. “After prolonged deployment [of the missile system], the original personnel require rest and recuperation,” Yue said. The first Typhon system arrived in the Philippines in April 2024 during joint US-Philippine exercises. It was the system’s inaugural overseas deployment. The ground-launched Typhon system can fire either the Standard Missile-6, which has a range of 240km (149 miles), or the Tomahawk Land Attack Missile, with a range of 2,500km – meaning that from northern Luzon, the system could reach parts of the South China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and even parts of mainland China. The Philippine military said last year that it welcomed the US deployment of additional Typhon missile systems to accelerate training and bolster deterrence. Beijing has repeatedly condemned the system’s presence in the Philippines as exacerbating tensions in the South China Sea. The US Army said the rotational unit would be coordinated by Task Force-Philippines, a joint team announced in October by US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and his Philippine counterpart, Gilberto Teodoro at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus in Kuala Lumpur. Hegseth said the team was intended to counter “China’s coercion”. Yue said the US military’s actual purpose was to “contain China” by showing its military presence in the South China Sea, which also served as a “show of support” for the Philippines. However, “permanent garrisoning” would be “a very heavy burden”, so Washington sought “to achieve significant impact with relatively modest investment”, Yue said. Song Zhongping, a military commentator and former PLA instructor, said collaboration between the US and the Philippines had “become routine”. Song said that troop rotations were typical under US-Philippine military cooperation, but this might incentivise other nations to bolster their own ties with Manila, “which could prove highly detrimental to regional stability”. Separately, China conducted maritime and aerial patrols around Scarborough Shoal, known as Huangyan Island in Chinese, late last month. The patrols were held five days after joint US-Philippine exercises in the vicinity, underscoring tensions in the disputed South China Sea. The US-Philippines exercise, held from January 25 to 26, marked the first joint military drill this year between the two nations as Mutual Defence Treaty allies, and the 11th such exercise since November 2023. Chinese and Philippine coastguard vessels have been involved in multiple confrontations in the South China Sea in recent years, while Washington has repeatedly emphasised its security commitments to Manila. The US and the Philippines will hold over 500 joint military and security activities this year, according to media reports quoting a Philippine Navy spokesman. News site ABS-CBN cited an anonymous senior Philippine military official as saying that the two sides were holding so many joint activities because this year was viewed as a critical window before 2027, when some believe Beijing is expected to finish preparing for military action against Taiwan. Beijing views Taiwan as part of its territory, to be reunified by force if necessary. Most countries, including Taipei’s major weapons supplier the US, do not view the self-ruled island as an independent state. However, Washington opposes any attempt to take the self-ruled island by force and is legally bound to provide arms for its defence. Some have linked the PLA’s centenary goal of achieving military modernisation by 2027 to war readiness for Taiwan, but Beijing has repeatedly said that peaceful reunification is its preferred option.

The US Army’s new presence in the Philippines and the push to contain China

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}US deploys new rotational force to Southeast Asian ally, a move experts say is aimed at deterring China and supporting Typhon missile system

US deploys new rotational force to Southeast Asian ally, a move experts say is aimed at deterring China and supporting Typhon missile system