By Ji Cheng
Over a period of time, the US has repeatedly taken advantage of joint exercises with its allies and foreign arms sales to deploy systems such as the Typhon and other missile platforms across the Asia-Pacific region. Facing growing difficulty in maintaining its military hegemony in the region through traditional main battle systems, the US now seeks to rebuild its regional deterrence and defense posture by relying on the precision and mobility advantages of missile power.
Strengthening Deployments on Both Offense and Defense
Since its withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty in 2019, the US has made the research, development and deployment of medium-range missiles a central pillar of its force posture. The Asia-Pacific has become a priority theater for testing and fielding new missile and missile-defense systems.
Using joint exercises as a platform, Washington has sought to establish a continuous presence of multiple missile types across the region. During the Resolute Dragon 25 exercise held by the US and Japan in September, the US prominently displayed the Typhon medium-range missile system at the US Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni in Japan, marking the first deployment of the system on Japanese soil. The US has also conducted operational tests of multiple missile systems across the Asia-Pacific. During the Exercise Talisman Sabre 2025 held by the US and Australia, a Standard-6 missile fired from the Typhon missile system successfully struck a maritime target, marking the system's first live-fire engagement outside US territory.
The US is weaving a missile network across Asia-Pacific alliances through targeted arms transfers. In January, Washington approved the sale to Japan of AIM-120D-3 and AIM-120C-8 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAM) and associated equipment, aiming to strengthen the Japan Self-Defense Forces' air-strike capabilities. In June, the US and Australia signed a memorandum of understanding on the production, maintenance and future development of precision-strike missiles. The missile acquired by Australia, promoted as a new surface-to-surface precision-strike weapon to replace the Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS), provides Canberra with stand-off strike capability and further integrates Australian forces into the US missile production and supply chain.
In addition, the US has placed greater strategic emphasis on the so-called Second Island Chain, enhancing the defense architecture of Guam and prioritizing the establishment of an “enhanced integrated air and missile defense system.” In May 2023, the US Department of Defense for the first time introduced the concept of "providing Guam with a persistent, 360-degree missile defense system". The project has now entered a substantive implementation phase. Once completed, Washington expects the system to effectively counter ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, hypersonic weapons, and unmanned aerial threats directed against Guam.
Multiple Strategic Considerations Behind US Missile Posture
The dense deployment of various missile systems and the weaving of an integrated air-and-missile-defense network across the Asia-Pacific by the US are driven by multiple strategic objectives. First, by forward-posting medium- and intermediate-range missiles with substantial range, high precision, and strong mobility, Washington seeks to construct multiple rings of fire to reinforce frontline deterrence in the region.
Second, selling and deploying missile systems to regional allies serves as a means of strategic bundling. Third, building a missile force structure that combines offensive and defensive capabilities is viewed in Washington as a cost-effective, high-return option for rapidly intervening in Asia-Pacific security affairs and preventing a relative erosion of US military primacy. A key component of this approach is the sale and deployment of missiles to allies such as Japan, the Philippines and Australia, thereby constructing a broader Asia-Pacific military encirclement.
Severely Endangering Regional Peace
Under the current trajectory, the US is leveraging its alliance networks and strategically important geographic nodes to accelerate the transformation and upgrading of its Asia-Pacific missile architecture toward a "node-to-chain, chain-to-network" configuration, which is likely to gravely undermine regional peace and stability.
On one hand, Washington's reckless expansion of missile and missile-defense networks is driving up the risk of regional arms races and military confrontations. At present, the missile systems deployed by the US in the Asia-Pacific already constitute a substantive threat to regional strategic security, forcing Asian countries into “taking sides” and intensifying bloc confrontations.
On the other hand, US actions have set a negative example for certain regional countries, potentially prompting them to take irrational measures detrimental to regional peace and stability. Since November 2024, senior officials of the Philippine military have repeatedly expressed their willingness to acquire and deploy the Typhon missile system, viewing it as a key element to enhance the country's military deterrence. Such behavior, effectively acting as an accomplice to US ambitions, is unlikely to deliver the anticipated "security." Instead, it risks accelerating the Philippines' transformation into a pawn in Washington's Indo-Pacific strategy.
The Asia-Pacific is a stellar example of peace and development, not an arena for geopolitical games. It is certainly not a training ground or arms depot for the US to rally allies and build up military forces. The series of US actions and their implications merit close attention from the international community and from regional countries committed to a sound concept of development and security.
(The author is from the PLA Academy of Military Sciences)