The issue of missiles stirred a hornet’s nest last week after Russian President Vladimir Putin explicitly warned the Philippines is in his nuclear cross-hairs following the temporary deployment by the US of a once barred ground-launched missile system in the country.

Putin’s threat triggered anxiety — primarily anxiety that the country is being sucked further into the swirling maelstrom of a superpower geopolitical rivalry — which now requires that we painstakingly separate the proverbial chaff from the grain.

In a nutshell, Putin declared Russia is now free to do advance work on a Russian Mid-Range Capability (MRC) missile system similar to the ground-launched Typhon missile system the US Army hauled all the way from the US mainland to Northern Luzon during last April’s “Salaknib” military exercise.

MRC missile systems like the Typhon were prohibited under the now defunct Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty between the US and Russia.

The US withdrew from the INF treaty in 2019 over allegations the Russians broke the moratorium on developing its own MRC missiles. Russia later said it too would disregard the INF treaty if the US stationed MRC missiles in Europe or Asia. Putin did precisely that last week.

Piecing together the facts from various news sources, Russia’s reaction, however, counted for less in the US decision to deploy, for the first time ever, the Typhon system in an Asian country.

Instead, US military officials argued the deployment was to augment US deterrent capabilities against China’s warships and reclaimed bases in the South China Sea, as well as to counter Chinese long-range missiles in Southern China.

An argument which dramatically changes our perspective on how to take Putin’s threat since it now directly involves our own face-offs with China.

Anyway, the US Army believes the Typhon system is not only more lethal against Chinese warships and bases than its other mid-range missile systems but it also has the range to reach Southern China.

A Typhon system battery is essentially a vertical launch system armed with the US Navy’s Standard Missile-6 (SM-6) and Tomahawk cruise missiles. Additionally, the system has a battery operations center, four launchers, prime movers and modified trailers.

A ground-launched modern variant of the Tomahawk cruise missile has an estimated range of more than 1,600 kilometers; while the modified SM-6 missile, originally an anti-aircraft and missile interceptor but now with anti-ship capabilities, has a range of up to 370 kilometers.

While the US Army didn’t do live-fire exercises with the single Typhon battery it brought over for “Salaknib,” the long-haul exercise indicated the US Army was testing how rapidly it could deploy Typhon systems in the event deterrence fails and hostilities erupt in the SCS and the Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) is invoked.

As to why the US is intensely focused on the rapid deployment of its mobile missile systems, it is because its military faces the daunting problem of its forces and weaponry being heavily concentrated in Japan and South Korea, fat targets for China’s long-range missiles. A threat dispersal is the US’ strategic game.

At any rate, the temporary deployment of the Typhon system came at a time the Philippine military is shopping for cheaper mid-range missile systems to beef up the country’s missile arsenal.

The country already possesses the BrahMos missile system, an expensive supersonic mid-range system bought from India. The Philippine Air Force also has the Rafael Spyder missile system.

Meanwhile, the US once again demonstrated the capabilities of the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) — a truck-mounted, mobile rocket launcher that can carry six missiles — in this year’s Balikatan exercises, giving the Philippine military a look at the system.

The HIMARS gained international cachet in the Ukraine war. In Asia, Singapore, Taiwan and Australia have HIMARS in their arsenals.

HIMARS’ rockets, however, are technically less effective against warships, prompting the Americans to gamble on the temporary deployment of the Typhon system in the country despite inviting Russia’s ire and China’s scrutiny.