The Pentagon awarded a contract to upgrade the Philippine Navy’s primary base near the South China Sea to support small boats and unmanned surface vessels.
New Mexico-based contractor Ace Builders, Inc. was selected last week for a $975,000 design-build project of a small boat maintenance facility at Naval Detachment Oyster Bay in Western Palawan. The project was initially announced in May to increase the Philippine Navy’s sustainment capabilities amid operational challenges in the South China Sea, USNI News previously reported.
Manila relies on the base for its military operations in the South China Sea, launching American-provided Cyclone-class patrol boats and Philippine Marine Corps fast boats to monitor Beijing forces in the disputed waters. China’s naval, coast guard and maritime militia forces have frequently clashed with Philippine forces at multiple maritime features in past years under an ongoing territorial dispute between the two nations.
Documents released in recent months have noted that the facility should be able to support Philippine Navy unmanned surface vessels. Washington previously supplied five American-made Maritime Tactical Systems drones to Manila under maritime domain awareness support efforts last year. A forward-deployed U.S. military task force also supported the training of Philippine drone operators in Palawan.
The award is the latest in a series of American-funded military construction efforts in the Southeast Asian country designed to support Manila amid Chinese actions in the South China Sea. Washington ramped up its defense and security assistance to the Philippines in 2023 following a string of spats at Second Thomas Shoal around BRP Sierra Madre (LT-57), a beached Second World War-era landing ship tank crewed by a contingent of Philippine Marines.
Tensions came to a head in the summer of 2024 during a clash at the disputed shoal that saw a Philippine Navy SEAL lose his thumb in a collision. The watercraft involved in the June 17 incident were sortied from the Western Palawan base.
Aside from Naval Detachment Oyster Bay, American funding in Western Palawan has also encompassed a new site in the south of the province. Contracts for a barracks and maintenance facility in the municipality of Quezon brings Manila’s small boat capabilities closer to Second Thomas and Sabina Shoals. U.S. and Philippine Marines have previously trained in small boat operations during archipelagic defense drills off Western Palawan.
