Framed within Exercise Resolute Dragon 2025, the United States Army will deploy a Typhon missile launch system to Japan for the first time. This unprecedented event marks a new step in the U.S. strategy to reinforce deterrence capabilities in the Asia-Pacific alongside its allies, in a context shaped by China’s growing military power. It is worth noting that the platform is one of the most modern launch systems currently being evaluated by the U.S. Army.
Exercise Resolute Dragon 2025 will take place between September 11 and 15, with the participation of the U.S. Army and Japan’s Self-Defense Forces. The activity will focus on improving interoperability between the two forces in multidomain operations and will serve as the platform for the U.S. Army’s Multi-Domain Task Force Three, based in Hawaii, to deploy the Mid-Range Capability (MRC) system, also known as Typhon, on Japanese soil. According to reports, it will be stationed at the Marine Corps Air Station in Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Prefecture, which currently hosts U.S. F-35B and F-35C fighters.
According to initial reports—first released by Japanese media—the Typhon system provides an additional and complementary capability to those already deployed by the U.S. and Japan in missile defense and medium-range strike operations. Although no detailed specifications have been disclosed regarding the configurations to be tested, it is expected that the system will be able to operate both Tomahawk cruise missiles and SM-6 medium-range strike missiles.
The presence of Typhon in Japan is not an isolated development but part of a broader pattern of progressive deployments in the Western Pacific. This will be the third deployment of the new system in the region, following its stationing in the Philippines in April 2024 during Exercise Salaknib 24, in the context of strengthening bilateral ties between Washington and Manila. Notably, after the drills ended, the system remained in Philippine territory—a decision that prompted immediate objections from China, which maintains a territorial dispute with the Philippines in the South China Sea.
Last month, the system also took part in an exercise in Australia, where it was used to launch SM-6 missiles as part of the multinational exercise Talisman Sabre 2025. The launch, conducted from one of the units deployed on Australian soil, was framed within the progressive integration of the system into the defense architecture of the U.S. and its allies in the Indo-Pacific. This demonstration not only reinforced interoperability with Australian forces but also aimed to validate Typhon’s ability to operate in a real combat scenario, expanding deterrence options in an increasingly complex regional context.
As a result of these experiences, the U.S. Army, with the goal of refining and facilitating its deployment—and taking into account the Philippine interest in acquiring the platform—is reportedly working with the Typhon system’s developer to explore alternatives for reducing the size of the launcher (based on the Mk 41 vertical launch system) and its transport platform, which is currently mounted on an 8×8 Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck (HEMTT).
In addition, Germany is emerging as one of the countries interested in acquiring this type of system within the framework of various modernization plans to strengthen its Armed Forces. In this regard, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius expressed Berlin’s interest in advancing talks with the United States for the acquisition of the new Typhon missile launch system. However, several understandings between the parties still need to be reached.
Developed by Lockheed Martin, the first SMRFs (formerly designated as the Mid-Range Capability system) were delivered to the U.S. Army in December 2022. It is a land-based system that provides a multidomain advantage over the enemy with its four launchers capable of firing both SM-6 surface-to-air missiles and Tomahawk surface-to-surface missiles. Its development responds to the growing need of the force to acquire greater medium- and long-range strike capabilities, as part of a broader effort expected to culminate in the future introduction of the system known as Dark Eagle, a mobile hypersonic missile launch system developed jointly with the U.S. Navy.
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