MOSCOW, Dec. 4 (Sputnik) - The US military is planning to deploy ground-based intermediate-range missiles in the Indo-Pacific region in 2024 in order to deter China, the Asian newspaper reported on Sunday, citing US Army Pacific spokesman Rob Phillips.

The United States might deploy land-based versions of the Tomahawk cruise missile and the Standard Missile-6 (SM-6) with an estimated range of 500 kilometers (310.6 miles) to 2,700 kilometers, media reported, adding that the US official did not specify the expected location and timing of deployment.

This will be the first arsenal in the region since the end of the Cold War and the first deployment of intermediate-range missiles by the United States since the country withdrew from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (the INF Treaty).

The INF treaty, signed between the Soviet Union and the US in 1987, banned the countries from developing and possessing ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges from 500-5,500 kilometers. In 2019, former US President Donald Trump withdrew from the treaty.

Photo from AP