The United States is considering sending more missile launchers to the Philippines as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) continues its campaign of maritime harassment in the South China Sea.
Jose Manuel Romualdez, the Philippines’ ambassador to the U.S., said that additional deployments of the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) are under discussion, according to an August 2025 report by The Associated Press (AP). The U.S. military first delivered the anti-ship NMESIS launcher in April 2025 to the province of Batanes, which the AP noted is “just a sea border away from Taiwan.”
If more NMESIS launchers are deployed to the Philippines, they could be placed in regions that face the South China Sea, where Beijing continues its incursions into Manila’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), Romualdez said.
“This [NMESIS discussion] is part of the strong U.S. and Philippines defense partnership,” Romualdez told the AP on the sidelines of a trade and investment conference in Manila. The Philippines is the oldest treaty ally of the U.S. in the Indo-Pacific.
In April 2024, the U.S. sent the midrange Typhon system, which can fire the SM-6 and Tomahawk missiles, to the Philippines as part of a combined military exercise, and the two nations decided to keep that system there indefinitely, according to the AP.
Beijing claims almost all of the South China Sea, including waters in the Philippines’ EEZ. In 2016, an international tribunal invalidated China’s claims. In recent years, China coast guard (CCG) ships have rammed, blocked and fired water cannons at Philippine vessels operating lawfully within the Philippines’ EEZ. In a recent example of such aggression, a CCG ship in August 2025 chased a Philippine patrol vessel in the South China Sea before crossing paths with a People’s Liberation Army Navy destroyer. A Philippines Coast Guard spokesman called it a “risky maneuver” by the CCG that resulted in “substantial damage” to the Chinese vessel.
About one-third of global shipping transits the South China Sea, which is also home to untapped oil reserves, natural gas and other raw materials, including rare-earth minerals crucial for modern industries, according to a July 2025 report by the Georgetown Security Studies Review journal.
“[China’s] actions not only endanger the Philippines’ economic interests but also challenge the broader rules-based order that underpins peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific,” the report said.
Romualdez invoked prosperity at the trade conference, where he and Philippine Foreign Secretary Theresa Lazaro encouraged U.S. investment in their country’s industries.
“[I]t’s not just about returns on capital — it’s about returns on alliance,” Romualdez told U.S. business executives, according to the AP. “A stronger Philippine economy means a more capable and reliable defense partner for the United States. At a time when America is diversifying supply chains and rethinking global strategy, we are a natural choice — and a strategic necessity.”