The presence of the US Army’s Mid-Range Capability (MRC) ground-based missile system, increases the risks of “misjudgment and miscalculation” in a region already on edge over Chinese-Philippines face-offs in the South China Sea, Beijing says. It’s the first-ever deployment of the MRC missile system, also known as the Typhon system, to the Indo-Pacific theater, and it comes amid a series of US-Philippine military exercises, including the largest-ever edition of the bilateral Balikatan exercises beginning Monday. It also can fire the Tomahawk Land Attack Missile, a maneuverable cruise missile with a range of 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles), according to the CSIS. Those are the same rules Washington and Manila accuse Beijing of ignoring with aggressive Chinese actions that have injured Filipino sailors and damaged vessels around disputed features in the South China Sea. US Army PacificChina’s missile advantageAnalysts say the deployment of the Typhon missile battery is the first signal of US plans to address what has long been an advantage for Beijing in the region.

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Persons: Lin Jian, ” Lin, Stephen Koehler, “, equalizes, ”, Collin Koh, Christopher Milhal, Koh, Rupert Schulenberg, Donald Trump “, Thomas, CNN’s Steven Jiang Organizations: South Korea CNN, US, MRC, US Army, Missile Defense, Center for Strategic, International Studies, Foreign, US Pacific Fleet, Sunday, Xinhua, CNN, US Air Force, US Army Pacific, Beijing, Rajaratnam, of International Studies, People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force, ”, don’t, International Institute for Strategic Studies, South, Lewis, McChord, Nuclear Forces Treaty, Russian, Philippine News Agency, CNN Philippine Locations: Seoul, South Korea, China, United States, Philippines, South China Sea, Beijing, Philippine, South China, Taiwan Strait, Qingdao, Washington, Manila, Asia, Pacific, Japan, Taiwan, Guam, Singapore, South, Soviet Union, Palawan, Sulu, Spratly