The US Typhon missile system, which has been in the country for nearly a year now, will be featured in a military exercise next month amid China’s continuing demand for the Philippines to send it back to the United States.
Army spokesman Col. Louie Dema-ala said the Typhon will be used during a “subject matter expert exchange (SMEE)” exercise between the Army, specifically the Artillery Regiment, and the US for familiarization purposes.
The SMME will be held in the first or second week of March, coinciding with the Army’s Combined Arms Training Exercise (CATEX) which is scheduled sometime between March 3 and 12, Dema-ala said.
“The focus of CATEX is more on command and control, movement of troops,” he said.
The date and venue for the SMEE are being finalized, he added.
Army chief Lt. Gen. Roy Galido said the Typhon, also known as the medium-range capability (MRC) missile system, is being used in the training so Army soldiers will be “exposed to its key mechanism and deployment demands.”
Galido earlier said the Army is planning to acquire missile system, not necessarily the Typhon, so it can better protect the country’s sovereignty.
“As I’ve said earlier, it’s so easy to acquire, but the more challenging (part) is sustaining the platform that you have acquired. And the learnings from our allies are very important in our decision on what platform to acquire,” he said.
As to China’s statement that the weapon is a strategic offensive weapon and should be pulled out from the Philippines so as not to undermine peace and stability in the region, Galido said, As to the perception of other parties, it’s all up to them to create their own perception.”
He stressed the weapon is meant to “protect the sovereignty of our country, meaning interest of our country.”
The Typhon launchers can fire multipurpose missiles distances of up to thousands of kilometers.
Galido also disclosed the defense and military establishments are in the process of acquiring a short-range air defense missile system for the use of the Army.
“That undertaking is now being done at the DND (Department of Defense) level… The purpose of that is to build the Army’s capability to be able to perform its territorial defense,” he said.
CATEX
The CATEX exercise will involve 6,000 Army soldiers, which is similar to last year’s training.
“But this time, there will be more platforms (involved) because we’re testing platforms that arrived last year. Last year you saw just a few units of our light tanks, but now we have more so we will rehearse their utilization,” he said.
The exercise is a prelude to the conduct of the “Salaknib” and “Balikatan” exercises involving US and Filipino troops. Officials have yet to say when the huge-scale exercises will be held but these are usually held in April and May.
Galido said last year’s CATEX was conducted in Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija.
“But this time, we are rehearsing mobilization in Mindanao and the Visayas,” he said naming Camp Kibaritan in Bukidnon and Camp Gen. Mariano Peralta in Capiz as additional new training sites.
He said the external defense exercise will be focused on command and control.
“We are rehearsing how the Army should be performing its role in territorial defense, which, as we have mentioned, has never been done before because we were focused on internal security,” said Galido.
“Command-and-control is important in external defense. It is also important in our interoperability with the Navy and the Air Force,” he said.
Galido said CATEX will test “test our combat readiness and demonstrate our adaptability and ability to execute complex, high-stakes operations with precision.”
“We are confident that the outcomes of this exercise will strengthen our command-and-control capabilities, further enhancing our preparedness to respond to any challenge that may threaten our national security,” said Galido.
MUNICH MEETING
Armed Forces chief Gen. Romeo Brawner and German counterpart, Gen. Carsten Breuer, have discussed expansion of collaboration between the two militaries during a recent meeting in Germany.
AFP public affairs chief Col. Xerxes Trinidad said the “high-level” discussions between the two military leaders took place during the Munich Security Conference on February 14 in Munich, reinforcing “commitment to closer military cooperation.”
“The meeting focused on expanding collaboration in key areas such as cyber warfare, military education and training, and maritime cooperative activities,” Trinidad said in a statement on Sunday night.
“This engagement marks enhancing the interoperability and capabilities in addressing shared security challenges, between the two parties,” he added.
Trinidad said the “strengthened cooperation” between the armed forces “aligns with the Philippines’ broader efforts to fortify international defense partnerships and maintain regional stability.”
The Armed Forces has been getting support from many “like-minded” nations as it continues to assert Philippine interests in the contested West Philippine Sea in the South China Sea.
The Armed Forces recently held a two-day maritime cooperative activity with the United States military in the West Philippine Sea to further improve interoperability.
It also held two multilateral maritime cooperative activities earlier this month, one with the US, Japan and Australia and the other with US and Canada, also in the West Philippine Sea.
Meanwhile, National Security Adviser (NSA) Eduardo Año and new Japan NSA Okano Masataka renewed their countries’ commitment to maintaining freedom of navigation in the South China Sea and East Philippine Sea.
Año spoke with Masataka on the phone, offering his congratulations to Masataka’s assumption as Japan’s NSA, said National Security Council spokesman Jonathan Malaya.
“They reaffirmed their commitment to freedom of navigation and international law in the South China Sea and East China Sea, as well as the importance of upholding a free and open Indo-Pacific, and international rules-based order,” Malaya said..
“They also agreed to continue and promote the trilateral framework of cooperation with the United States under the new administration of President Trump,” he also said.
