Yonhap reported on April 7 that General Charles Flynn, Commander of the US Army Pacific, said that the US military has developed long-range precision weapons, and he also listed the SM-6 air defense missile and Tomahawk cruise missile as possible missiles for use in this new system.
Mr. Charles Flynn said that the system would be deployed in the region soon, but he did not specify the type of launcher, nor the time and location of the deployment. Experts widely speculated that the system could be the Typhon ground-based missile launcher system that the US military has been developing since last year.
Previously, according to Japanese media, Guam Island - a US territory in the western Pacific, was considered a potential location to deploy this system.
General Charles Flynn, commander of the US Army Pacific, speaks during an interview with Yonhap in South Korea on April 6, 2024.
SCREENSHOT THE KOREA TIMES
The SM-6 is designed to intercept ballistic missiles and has a range of more than 240 km. The Tomahawk is a subsonic cruise missile that can hit targets about 2,500 km away.
Flynn’s remarks marked the first confirmation from the US of the types of weapons systems that will be deployed in the Indo-Pacific region this year. In addition, the move also marked a historic change, the first time such a weapon system has been deployed in the region since the US and the Soviet Union signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty in 1987.
The INF Treaty banned short- and intermediate-range ground-launched missiles. At the time, the US and the Soviet Union had a combined 2,611 of these missiles, mostly in Europe and Southeast Asia. However, the agreement expired in 2019, and neither the US nor Russia has renewed it.
"North Korea's missile testing is concerning and destabilizing for the region. Based on our recent activities in the region, I am confident in the layered missile defense system the United States has in place," Flynn said.
North Korea said on April 3 that it had test-fired a new hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile, called the Hwasongpho-16B, and that all of its missiles are now solid-fueled and capable of carrying mobile nuclear warheads. Hypersonic missiles are difficult to intercept with conventional missile defense shields because they can travel five times the speed of sound and have flexible flight paths and altitudes.
The US military forces in South Korea operate the PAC-3 short-range missile defense system, the Medium-Range Air Defense Missile (M-SAM) system - developed by South Korea from the Cheongung missile, and the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system.
Speaking to Yonhap, Flynn also highlighted the potential risks surrounding North Korea's suspected arms supply to Russia. He also praised South Korea's active participation in multinational exercises with the US and its allies, saying these activities would send an important message amid growing security challenges.
In addition, US General Charles Flynn also welcomed the progress in US-South Korea defense relations over the decades. Mr. Flynn is currently on a tour of three Asian countries including Japan, Thailand and South Korea.
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