Author: Chris Dayton

Visualization: Potential US Missile Deployment Locations in the Philippines

Authors: Chris Dayton & Ethan Connell

Per USNI News, U.S. and Philippine defense officials have committed to increasing missile and drone deployments across the archipelago as part of broader First Island Chain deterrence efforts, with recent rotations spotlighting Northern Luzon and the Batanes areas nearest Taiwan. Above is our visualization of potential U.S. missile deployment locations in the Philippines and the approximate engagement envelopes for NMESIS (180 km), Typhon/MRC (450 km), and HIMARS (500 km).

Visualization: New Philippine Navy Monitoring Detatchment at Tubbahta Reef

Authors: Chris Dayton & Ethan Connell

The Philippine Navy’s Western Naval Command will stand up a Naval Monitoring Detachment at Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park, with the stated goal of improving patrol, surveillance, and rapid-response coverage of Chinese naval activity in the Sulu Sea, while also supporting the reef’s protection against illegal activity. Above is our visualization of the detachment’s proposed location:

Visualization: Taiwan’s Varied Aircraft Protection

Authors: Chris Dayton & Noah Reed

Recent drone attacks on airfields in global conflicts have placed a heightened focus on aircraft protection at Taiwan’s major military bases. Improving ROCAF survivability is now a priority for the MND, with plans to significantly expand hardened shelters at Chihhang AFB by 2028 to protect future F-16C/D Block 70 fighters. Above is our visualization of the level of hardened protection at each of Taiwan’s airbases.

Visualization: Planned HIMARS Deployments on Outlying Islands

Author: Chris Dayton

Taiwan’s military reportedly plans to deploy its recently acquired HIMARS launcher platforms to its outlying islands of Penghu and Dongyin, a move that could put many of China’s coastal naval facilities and airfields in Fujian and Zhejiang provinces within range of Taiwanese missiles. This comes after reports that Taiwan intends to expand its M142 HIMARS inventory to 111 launchers in future material purchases from the United States. Our visualization shows possible deployment locations and the operational range of HIMARS munitions in Taiwan’s inventory.

Visualization: Taiwan’s Energy Import and Storage Vulnerabilities

Visualization: Philippines MQ-9A Deployment

Author: Chris Dayton

Per Aaron-Matthew Lariosa, the U.S. Marine Corps temporarily deployed a unit of MQ-9A drones to Basa Air Base in the Philippines beginning in 2024, supporting Philippine intelligence collection in the South China Sea and providing surveillance assistance of maritime threats.

Above is our visualization of Marine Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Squadron (VMU) 1’s deployment and the MQ-9A’s operational range:

Visualization: Brahmos Missile Deployment

Visualization: Taiwan Military Theatre Command

Authors: Chris Dayton, Noah Reed

In 2021, Taiwan’s military reorganized its command structure into several “operational zones” (作戰區), also often called “operational theaters” . These zones represent the integrated command of Taiwan’s different armed services.

Recently, Taiwan’s MND announced each command will have an integrated UAV battalion by 2026. Our visualization shows the breakdown of each command’s territorial jurisdiction.

Visualization: Deployment of U.S. Typhon Missile System in Japan

Authors: Chris Dayton, Joe O’Connor

On September 15, a U.S. Typhon Missile System, capable of firing the Tomahawk Land Attack Missile (TLAM), was deployed to Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni in southern Japan. This marks the first deployment of Typhon to Japan, and the platform will take part in the currently ongoing Resolute Dragon 25 exercise.

Below is our visualization of the Typhon’s deployment location and operational range.