Yonhap news agency on April 7 quoted the Commander of the US Army in the Pacific, General Charles Flynn, as saying that the country will soon deploy new ground launchers capable of launching SM-6 and Tomahawk interceptor missiles in the Indo-Pacific region to deal with growing security threats.

This information is the first confirmation from General Flynn about the weapons systems that will be deployed in the region this year. Speaking to Yonhap news agency at Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek city during a visit to South Korea on April 6, General Flynn revealed that the US military has developed “long-range precision fires”, adding SM-6 interceptor missiles and Tomahawk sea-attack missiles to the list of weapons that can be launched from the new launch system. General Flynn stated: “This new system will be deployed in the region soon.”

Speaking to Japanese media earlier, General Flynn said the system has “hypersonic capabilities,” meaning the missile can travel five times faster than the speed of sound.

Japanese experts speculate that the new system could be the land-based Typhoon system, which has been in service with the US military since last year. Guam, a US territory in the western Pacific, has been seen as a potential location for the system.

KHANH HUNG