An MV-22B Osprey with Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 262 lands during a rehearsal for the Resolute Dragon exercise on Ie Shima, Okinawa, Aug. 26, 2025. (Ryan Sotodavila/U.S. Marine Corps)

The U.S. Army will deploy its mid-range missile system, Typhon, to Japan for the first time during a Marine Corps-led exercise in September, the service announced Friday.

The 3rd Multi-Domain Task Force will position the land-based, ground-launched system at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, about 25 miles southeast of Hiroshima, for the annual Resolute Dragon exercise, U.S. Army Pacific spokesman Col. Isaac Taylor said in an emailed statement Friday.

The joint training is scheduled for Sept. 11-25 across Japan, including Okinawa.

“Typhon provides a complementary capability to existing U.S. and Japanese systems and underscores our commitment to innovation, modernization, and the U.S.-Japan Alliance,” Taylor said. “This exercise highlights the importance of interoperability and our shared dedication to peace, security, and a free and open Indo-Pacific.”

Interoperability is a term the military uses to describe allied forces’ ability to use each other’s training methods and equipment.

The Army first fired Typhon in the Western Pacific on July 15, striking an at-sea target from Bradshaw Training Area in Australia during Talisman Sabre drills. The system includes launchers, missiles and a battery operations center and can fire both SM-6 and Tomahawk missiles.

Resolute Dragon will focus on “controlling and defending key maritime terrain,” III Marine Expeditionary Force spokesman 2nd Lt. James Selcke said by email Thursday. The Marine Corps’ Force Design strategy calls for smaller units to defend maritime chokepoints in the Pacific.

The exercise comes amid growing Chinese military activity near Taiwan and around islands claimed by Japan in the East China Sea. In June, China carried out Pacific drills involving both of its aircraft carriers — the Shandong and Liaoning — for the first time.

About 1,900 U.S. and 12,300 Japanese personnel will participate in Resolute Dragon, according to a Ground Staff information sheet. U.S. forces will include Marines from III Marine Expeditionary Force, the 12th Marine Littoral Regiment, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, 3rd Marine Logistics Group and Marine Corps Installations Pacific.

There will also be airmen from the 18th Wing at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, sailors from 7th Fleet, and soldiers from the task force and other Army units, the document said.

Other planned U.S deployments include MV-22 Ospreys, High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS, and the Marines’ semisubmersible Autonomous Low-Profile Vesel drone supply aircraft, according to the document.

Japanese media have reported possible first-time deployments of HIMARS to Yonaguni, an island about 70 miles from Taiwan, and the Navy/Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System, or NMESIS, to Ishigaki, about 150 miles from Taiwan. U.S. and Japanese officials have declined to confirm or deny the reports.

NMESIS, a ground-based antiship system using the Naval Strike Missile, was first deployed in April by the 3rd Littoral Regiment during the Balikatan exercise in the Philippines.

Units based on Okinawa are scheduled to begin fielding the system between April and June 2026, Marine Corps Systems Command spokeswoman Deidra Knight said in an Aug. 6 email.