ANKARA

The US will deploy ground-based launchers capable of firing SM-6 and Tomahawk missiles in the Indo-Pacific region "soon" to address "rising security threats," amid escalating tensions in the region.

In an interview with Yonhap News Agency during his visit to South Korea, Gen. Charles Flynn, the US Army Pacific commander, said the army has developed "long-range precision fires," listing the SM-6 interceptor and the maritime-strike Tomahawk as missiles that could be launched from the new launch system.

The announcement, which coincides with counter-military drills by China, and the US and its allies in the disputed South China Sea, marks the first confirmation of the types of weapons systems to be fielded in the region this year.

The weapon system would be deployed in the region for the first time since the US and the former Soviet Union signed a treaty in 1987 to abolish the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF).

The US withdrew from the INF treaty in 2019, citing alleged Russian violations.

The US army has developed and deployed new intermediate-range missiles amid China's growing influence in the Indo-Pacific region.

"That system will be deploying into the region soon. Where and when it's going to go, I'm not going to talk about that now," Flynn said.

The SM-6 is capable of intercepting ballistic missiles with a range of over 240 kilometers (149 miles), while the Tomahawk, a subsonic cruise missile, can strike a target about 2,500 kilometers (1,553 miles) away.

Flynn, who also visited Japan and Thailand during his three-nation Asia tour, addressed concerns over North Korea's recent string of missile tests, showing confidence in the alliance's "integrated and layered missile defense system."

"Continued testing is concerning and, in many ways, destabilizing. I am confident, given our recent activities in the region, about layered missiles defense of what we have," he was quoted as saying.

North Korea on Wednesday test-fired a new hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile, claiming all of its missiles are now solid-fuel and nuclear-capable with warhead control capability.