The U.S. military has confirmed that it plans to deploy to the Indo-Pacific next year a new ground-based missile launcher capable of firing weapons with a range of up to 2,500 kilometers.
The U.S. Army Pacific intends to deploy the “Typhon” Strategic Mid-Range Fires (SMRF) system to the region in 2024, spokesman Col. Rob Phillips told The Japan Times on Tuesday, pointing to earlier remarks by Gen. Charles Flynn, the commander of the U.S. Army’s forces in the Pacific.
Flynn told reporters at the Halifax International Security Forum last month that the system, which employs SM-6 missiles and Tomahawk cruise missiles and modifies them for ground launch, would be deployed next year. Tomahawks are believed to have a range of between 1,250 km to 2,500 km, while the SM-6 has a maximum range of 240 km.