{"id":48048,"date":"2025-07-16T16:36:53","date_gmt":"2025-07-16T16:36:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2025\/07\/16\/us-to-build-fast-boat-base-near-south-china-sea\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T17:00:34","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T17:00:34","slug":"us-to-build-fast-boat-base-near-south-china-sea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/naval\/2025\/07\/16\/us-to-build-fast-boat-base-near-south-china-sea\/","title":{"rendered":"US to build fast boat base near South China Sea"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In a seeming bid to counter increasingly aggressive Chinese activities in the South China Sea, the U.S. plans to finance and construct a fast boat facility on the western coast of Palawan in the Philippines. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The facility will be built to launch at least five fast boats, which will be constructed by U.S.-based company ReconCraft. The manufacturer specializes in producing vessels used by law enforcement and the military for rapid interdiction. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to documents, the vessels will include both \u201cassault boats\u201d and rigid-hulled inflatable boats, USNI News has reported. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The facility, which will also include on-site storage and conference rooms, will provide the Armed Forces of the Philippines with an effective launch point for patrols into the South China Sea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chinese and Philippine vessels have clashed in increasingly hostile interactions in the region<\/a>, especially as China has used aggressive tactics to assert its claims over a variety of uninhabitable reefs and shoals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although these standoffs and accusations of Chinese \u201cbullying\u201d have been occurring for years, the incidents seem to be escalating in recent times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A month ago, China\u2019s Coast Guard was recorded on video deploying a water cannon against<\/a> a Philippine fishing boat near a sandbar. Earlier this month, China announced that it was deploying a military combat patrol near the Scarborough Shoal, a disputed area with the Philippines. <\/p>\n\n\n\t