The US-made Typhon missile system will not be part of this year’s iteration of “Salaknib,” Major General Jeffrey VanAntwerp, deputy chief of staff of operations, plans, and training of US Army Pacific, said.
“We are not planning to conduct live-fire in the Philippines right now,” VanAntwerp told reporters in a media briefing.
“Salaknib” is an annual bilateral exercise led by the Philippine Army and sponsored by the US Army Pacific.
This news comes almost a year after the Philippine Army’s 1st Multi-Domain Task Force transported a Typhon launcher to Luzon as part of the 2023 Salaknib exercise—marking the first time the new capability, deemed vital to the US Army’s strategy in the Indo-Pacific, had been deployed.
The missile system traveled more than 8,000 miles from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, aboard a C-17 Globemaster cargo aircraft on a 15-hour flight.
Army Spokesperson Colonel Louie Dema-ala said Salaknib’s objectives are enhancement in territorial defense operations, sustainment, interoperability, and humanitarian civil assistance.
The exercises will consist of over 5,000 troops, 2,000 from the US Army and 3,000 from the Philippine Army.
Typhon has since remained in the country, angering China, which has criticized the move and warned it could destabilize the region. Officials have yet to fire the missile system in the Philippines.
It is unclear how long Typhon will remain in the Philippines or if it will go elsewhere in the Pacific theater.
It is designed to enhance the US and Philippine Army’s capacity and interoperability across the spectrum of military operations while strengthening the ties between the two long-standing allies. The exercises will run from March 24 until May 9.