The U.S. Army deployed its Typhon midrange missile system to Japan for the first time, displaying the launcher at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni as part of the annual Resolute Dragon exercise.
The mobile system, delivered last month, is capable of firing Tomahawk cruise missiles and SM-6 interceptors and is being operated by the Army’s 3rd Multi-Domain Task Force.
US Typhon missile system’s presence in Japan sharpens Asia arms race https://t.co/HrAQDEjKQ8 pic.twitter.com/2TukmVo7rp
— Alma Angeles (@AlmaANET25) September 15, 2025
“Employing multiple systems and different types of munitions, it is able to create dilemmas for the enemy,” Colonel Wade Germann, commander of the task force that operates the missile system, said.
“The speed with which it can be deployed enables us to forward position it when required expeditiously,” he added.
Germann said Typhon will depart Japan after Resolute Dragon but did not disclose its next deployment location.
The system’s presence in Japan, within range of China’s eastern seaboard, comes shortly after Beijing’s September military parade marking the 80th anniversary of World War II.
China has not commented on the latest Typhon deployments, but it previously condemned the U.S. military’s deployment of the system to the Philippines, calling it a “substantial threat to peace.”
Typhon was deployed to the Philippines in 2024 and to Australia in July, where it successfully struck a maritime target during Exercise Talisman Sabre.
Lift off.
Australia has fired our first Himars rocket on home turf as part of the largest Australia-US military training exercise ever. More to come. pic.twitter.com/vG7ejKx1ai
— Kevin Rudd AC (@AmboRudd) July 14, 2025
Resolute Dragon is the largest iteration yet, involving more than 19,000 U.S. and Japanese personnel rehearsing crisis response and the defense of key maritime terrain. It will run until Sept. 25.
