During the Talisman Sabre 25 exercises, hosted by Australia alongside Papua New Guinea, the U.S Army had the opportunity to launch one of its SM-6 missiles to evaluate its performance from one of its Typhon systems. Prior to that, in order to calibrate telemetry, communication, and ground-based tracking systems, the U.S Navy conducted a flight with one of its KC-130T Hercules aircraft from Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (VX) 30, simulating the missile.
Commenting on this unusual event, Nathan Stock, platform coordinator for VX 30, summed it up by saying: “We turned the aircraft into a fake missile. They tracked us the same way they would track the real missile.” According to official channels, the aircraft’s flight was key to enabling, just a few days later, the launch of the SM-6 missile against a maritime target under the coordination of the Army’s 3rd Multidomain Task Force — marking the first use of the Typhon system outside US territory.
The occasion also allowed the US Navy to test the Satellite Communications Range Extension Aircraft Modification system (also known as SCREAM), which was introduced in 2024. Thanks to its proper integration with the KC-130T aircraft, the mission was able to overcome the challenge posed by the limited range of Australian tracking and communications infrastructure, providing Army units with a real-time data link to validate the simulated missile’s flight path. This was made possible by the system’s ability to connect to the Starlink network, leveraging the aircraft’s own power and onboard GPS systems.
In the words of Captain David Halpern, commodore of the Pacific Naval Test Wing, “SCREAM proved its worth in a real-world environment. It gave the Army a direct link to its surrogate missile over terrain that would otherwise have been out of reach. That’s the kind of flexible capability we need in contested environments.” This is no minor point, considering that the new missile launchers will be deployed throughout the Indo-Pacific in areas not always well-prepared for such operations, as part of the containment strategy the US has outlined with a focus on China.
On a broader regional level, it should be noted that the US is not the only one interested in building a missile defense network to counter the growing naval activity of the Asian Giant in the Indo-Pacific. An illustrative example can be found in Japan, which also took advantage of the Talisman Sabre 25 exercises to test its new Type 12 anti-ship missile system, conducting launches against floating maritime targets several miles off the Australian coast — marking the first time these systems were tested outside their home country.
Meanwhile, the Armed Forces of the Philippines — one of the nations experiencing the highest territorial tensions with China — have also shown interest in acquiring the new Typhon systems tested by their US counterparts. These are launchers that Manila’s troops have already become familiar with, as they were deployed by the US during bilateral exercises held in April. If acquired, they would give the island nation the ability to strike targets up to 2,500 kilometers away. Currently, the backbone of the country’s coastal defense is made up of Indian-made BrahMos missiles.
Cover image: Michael Smith
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