The commander of the US Pacific Army, Charles Flynn, stated that the US military is about to deploy the Standard 6 (SM-6) air defense missile and Tomahawk cruise missile in the Asia-Pacific region, but the specific time and location are not suitable for disclosure for the time being. Flynn mentioned in Japan last week that the US plans to deploy new medium-range missiles in the Indo-Pacific region by the end of this year.
The Tomahawk cruise missile series has a range of about 1,600 kilometers; the new Standard 6 missile uses an active radar seeker and has a maximum range of 400 kilometers. Earlier reports indicated that the US military is deploying the "Typhoon" land-based missile system under development, which can carry both types of missiles.
Flynn is visiting South Korea. When he was interviewed by South Korean media at Camp Humphreys, where the US military in South Korea is stationed in Gyeonggi Province, he expressed concern about North Korea's continuous missile research and launch activities and stated that Russia is using and testing North Korea's missile systems on the battlefield, and North Korea may gain new experience in the use of weapons procedures, technology, and maintenance.
Flynn emphasized the necessity of strengthening the US-Japan-South Korea joint exercise, hoping that the South Korean army and the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force will have the opportunity to participate in the joint exercise in Hawaii or Alaska, which will help the US-Japan-South Korea to strengthen unity and cooperation.
The leaders of the US, Japan, and South Korea agreed at the David Camp meeting in August last year to strengthen trilateral security cooperation. Subsequently, the US and South Korean militaries and the Japanese Self-Defense Force conducted joint maritime and air exercises, but no ground joint exercises were held.
