The US antiship missile system NMESIS has arrived in PH for use in the next “Balikatan” exercises between Filipino and American troops.
The United States antiship missile system NMESIS has arrived in the Philippines for use in the next “Balikatan” exercises between Filipino and American troops, with the drills again being held mainly at the country’s northern tip near Taiwan.
The deployment of the NMESIS—or Navy-Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System—was first announced by US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth during a visit to Manila on March 28. It is a highly mobile coastal antiship missile system designed to strike surface vessels from land-based positions.
Its introduction to the Balikatan carries a significance similar to the arrival of the midrange Typhon missile system in the country in April last year.
Despite initial pronouncements that its Philippine deployment would only be temporary, the Typhon system has remained on local soil.
China, which for years has been threatening to invade Taiwan while also harassing Philippine vessels and fisherfolk in pursuit of its expansionist claims on the South China Sea, has repeatedly called for Typhon’s pullout from the Philippines.
