US, Philippines deploy anti-ship missile system in Batanes near Taiwan for war games

(This May 2 story is repeated without any changes to the text.)

by Adrian Portugal

BATANES, Philippines, May 2 (Reuters) – Philippine and U.S. forces on Saturday displayed the NMESIS anti-ship missile system in Batanes province near Taiwan during annual war games as tensions escalate on the island that China considers its territory.

The northernmost province of the Philippines, with a population of about 20,000, is located about 100 miles south of Taiwan along the Luzon Strait, a strategic corridor at the forefront of the great power rivalry between the United States and China for dominance in the Asia-Pacific region.

“Training here in Batanes provides a different environment than we are normally allowed to operate in,” said U.S. Sergeant Major Darren Gibbs.

“So it gives us unique opportunities to really use the system and train to the best of our abilities and provide experiences that we’re not normally offered in our day-to-day training.”

Gibbs said NMESIS is designed for remote operation and that “the goal of this system is to be fully autonomous, for us to not need a driver or passenger inside the vehicle.”

“We’ll tell him where to go and then program him what to do,” he said.

‌NMESIS, a highly mobile coastal anti-ship missile system designed to target surface ships from land-based positions at a range of approximately 185 km (115 mi), was flown to Batanes aboard a US C-130 transport aircraft and deployed to the capital, Basco, which has one of the island state’s two small runways.

Philippine exercise director Francisco Lorenzo told ⁠Reuters that the deployment of U.S. weapons such as NMESIS to Batanes is part of efforts to test operational feasibility in remote locations. NMESIS was also deployed to Batanes during last year’s war games.

“This is part of the training to test feasibility or rehearse the deployment there when needed,” Lorenzo said. He said one of the goals of Balikatan, which is called the annual “shoulder to shoulder” exercises of US and Philippine forces, is to exercise “the defense of our territory with our allies.”

NMESIS will not be used in live exercise operations and was brought to Batanes only for deployment rehearsal and simulation support during war games.

He said that the system will be withdrawn from Batanes after the drills are over. The United States also deployed the Typhon missile system to the Philippines in 2024 for use in joint exercises.

Beijing routinely criticizes the deployment of US weapons to the Philippines and says it increases regional tensions.

“NMESIS could activate a powder keg for Beijing in the Bashi Canal across the Luzon Strait and create asymmetric deterrence for Manila and Taipei,” security analyst Chester Cabalza, founder and president of the Manila-based think tank International Development and Security Cooperation, told Reuters.

The system could be transported by plane to any coastline in the Philippine archipelago within a few hours, and its deployment in Batanes was likely viewed by Beijing as part of a “US-led encirclement” of China, Cabalza said.

WAR GAMES INVOLVES 17,000 TROOPS

Philippine and US forces also conducted naval assault drills in Itbayat, the Batanes municipality in the country’s northernmost area, about 155 km from Taiwan.

More than 17,000 soldiers are participating in this year’s war games, including 10,000 from the United States; whereas Washington remains heavily engaged in the Middle East.

China has recently intensified its activities in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait, increasing its naval presence around Taiwan and sending an aircraft carrier through the strait. This month it also formed a barrier at the mouth of Scarborough Shoal, according to satellite images reviewed by Reuters.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said Filipinos working and living in Taiwan “will have to be evacuated in the event of war on the self-governing island” and that this would “drag the Philippines kicking and screaming into the conflict.”

Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro said in an April 28 interview with Reuters that Manila has a contingency plan to evacuate Filipinos in Taiwan in case of conflict, but did not provide further details.

(Reporting by Adrian Portugal; Additional reporting by Nestor Corrales; Editing by Tom Hogue)