Major foreign media reported on the 25th (local time) that the U.S. Navy is considering deploying Patriot missiles on its vessels in the Pacific.
The report, citing multiple defense officials, stated that the U.S. Navy is pushing to introduce the system on some ships due to concerns over the Chinese military's deployment of hypersonic weapons.
The Patriot, an air defense missile system, has never been deployed on Navy vessels except for a test launch in May.
According to classified documents leaked last year from the U.S. Department of Defense, China is developing a new hypersonic missile called the DF-27, which was reportedly test-fired last year. The DF-27 is a missile capable of striking all U.S. military bases in the Asia-Pacific region.
With the demand for Patriot missiles surging, the U.S. is said to have proposed jointly producing these missiles with Japan.
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