On April 3, Russian Satellite Network reported that US and Philippine government officials were in talks to discuss the possible deployment of the US Army's High Mobility Artillery and Rocket System (HIMARS) on Philippine territory to counter the so-called "regional threat". Security experts in Southeast Asia recently told the media that talks between the two countries on the deployment of US rockets had been going on for some time, but because of the high prices offered by Manila government officials, the two countries failed to reach an agreement.

Philippine President Dutelt once fought with the US administration of Barack Obama and Trump and threatened to expel the interests of the United States in the country, but now he has in-depth military and political cooperation with the United States.

An expert told the media that if the two countries signed an agreement, Lockheed Martin's lightweight, highly mobile rocket launcher system would be able to easily target various targets in the archipelago off the Philippine coast.

HIMARS rockets can attack targets as far as 300 kilometers away and targets over 100 kilometers away when using ordinary rockets.

Derrick Cheng, spokesman of the US Pacific Army, told the media: "For the US Pacific Army, the M142 HIMARS rocket gun is an excellent strike weapon we have, especially the 17th Field Artillery Brigade, which has been trained and fired to maintain our overall operational readiness in this regard." Cheng did not comment on reports that the United States and the Philippines were negotiating the deployment of HIMARS rockets. At the end of March 2019, U.S. Army Deputy Chief of Staff, General James, said that the U.S. military did not have to deploy long-range precision strike weapons in areas such as the Philippines, when "this was likely to be discussed with partner countries".

The Center for New American Security issued a report on March 20 urging the United States to deploy HIMARS rockets in several countries in the region to "demonstrate the flexibility and variability of the U.S. rotating garrison". Patrick Cronin, one of the leading authors of the

CNAS report, emphasized to the media that HIMARS "will better deal with fixed targets, such as artificial islands."

For a long time, the Philippine surrounding waters have been a "thorn" in the relations between the major powers concerned, and Washington has repeatedly declared that it needs to control the "stability" of the waters. Former Defense Secretary James Mattis told reporters that the United States would continue to "fly, navigate and act wherever our national interests require". At that time, he also stressed that the United States "could not accept militarization or any threat to the region".

For this reason, the U.S. military has consulted with the Philippines many times and sent naval vessels to the Philippines for joint military exercises. Recently, the latest F-35B fighter aircraft has even been dispatched. In addition, the United States repeatedly sent B-52 bombers to fly over the Asia-Pacific waters and conduct "joint training" with the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. Navy and the Japan Aviation Self-Defense Force.