File photo: U.S. military intermediate-range ballistic missiles

By Song Kangfei

Recently, US Army Pacific spokesperson Rob Phillips revealed that the US military plans to deploy land-based intermediate-range missiles in the Asia-Pacific region next year. It is the first potential deployment of such weapons since the US withdrew from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty in 2019.

Phillips stated that the land-based intermediate-range missile options the US Army is considering for deployment next year include land-based Tomahawk cruise missiles and the Standard Missile-6 (SM-6) surface-to-air missiles, with expected ranges between 500 kilometers and 2,700 kilometers. According to the analysis of Wei Dongxu, a military observer, the US deployment of land-based intermediate-range missiles in the Asia-Pacific region is highly targeted.

Wei said, given the range and fire coverage of the hypersonic missiles it plans to deploy, the US mainly targets its strategic rivals, especially some military powers. This move, therefore, will pose a significant threat there. It is also the most provocative force deployment adopted by the US against its strategic rivals and other major countries after the introduction of the Indo-Pacific strategy.

The US hasn't released relevant information about those widely concerned questions about the specific timing or location of the deployment, but many analysts speculated that the intermediate-range missiles are very likely to be deployed in the military base in Guam.

Wei said that Guam serves as the base camp in the military layout in the Asia-Pacific of the US, whose sea and air forces are to be marshaled there. The intermediate-range missile force of the US Army can both undertake defensive tasks in Guam and conduct force projection to the West Pacific direction by employing the C-17 strategic transport aircraft stationed on the island. Guam is a strategic position for the US military as well as the base camp for it to employ intermediate-range missile systems in the Asia-Pacific region.

It is reported that the US, since its withdrawal from the INF Treaty, has sent senior officials to Japan, South Korea, the Philippines and Australia to feel out the situation and discuss the possibility for the US military to deploy intermediate-range missiles there. However, related countries expressed their disinterest in the intermediate-range missiles of the US military in different ways.

Nevertheless, Wei believed that we cannot rule out the possibility that some countries may make concessions on this issue under the coercion of the US.

Wei explained that as for the deployment of land-based intermediate-range missiles in the Asia-Pacific region, the US Army will regard the first island chain as its firing position and make every effort to pressure its allies to accept the deployment of land-based intermediate-range missiles by the US military. Though the US has sounded out its allies, it gets no direct response from South Korea, Japan and the Philippines, because even the ironclad allies of the US are reluctant to be dragged into the great power conflict and games in the current peacetime. Despite that, the US will probably beat its brains out to deploy its intermediate-range missiles on the land of its allies under the guise of joint exercises and joint training.

It is a dangerous move of the US to promote the deployment of its intermediate-range missiles in the Asia-Pacific region to seek an advantageous position in the great power competition, Wei further noted, and it will pose a serious threat to regional security, which requires great attention and high vigilance by relevant countries.

Editor's note: Originally published on military.cnr.cn, this article is translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information and opinions in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn.