US, Japan to conduct joint drills with Typhon missile system deployment

MOSCOW, May 22. /TASS/. The United States and Japan will conduct a joint exercise from June 22 to July 1 and another one in September, during which they will deploy the Typhon ground-based missile system to Kanoya Air Base in Japan, the Japanese Embassy to Moscow said in a press release.

The ground-based strike capability is designed to launch mid-and short-range missiles.

"Japan will host a joint exercise of Japan’s Self-Defense Force and the US Army from June 22 to July 1 (Valiant Shield 26) and in September (Orient Shield 26) of this year. As part of these drills, the US Army’s Typhon missile system will be deployed to the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force’s Air Base," the embassy announced.

Following the joint exercises, the Typhon missile launcher will move to a US military base in Japan for storage, according to the press release.

The deployment is "temporary and is for training purposes only and the move does not indicate a permanent deployment," the embassy emphasized. "The United States is planning to remove the Typhon missile system from this [Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force’s Kanoya Air] base by mid-October after the drills conclude. The plans to move it to a US military base for storage do not constitute a permanent deployment," the embassy explained, saying that no other decisions, apart from a temporary deployment of the missile system, have been made.