China is increasing the number of its Unmanned Surface Vehicles (USV), some of them probably armed with weapons, patrolling the disputed South China Sea that is the focus of an international legal battle pitting China against the Philippines.

Reports said China will let loose an unspecified number of its USVs to patrol this disputed sea also currently being patrolled by warships and warplanes of the U.S. Navy. China claims the USVs are civilian sea craft used for sea surveys and mapping.

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These boats are said to belong to the "Jing Hai-class" of USVs made by the Research Institute of Unmanned Surface Vehicles Engineering at Shanghai University.

A life-size version of a Jing Hai at a military arms show in 2014, however, showed the USV painted in military naval grey.

Chinese media said Jing Hais have conducted oceanic and geological surveys of the Xisha and Nansha Islands in the South China Sea in 2013. The Xisha Islands or the Paracel Islands are also claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan while Nansha or the Spratly Islands is also claimed by the Philippines.

The Jing Hai-class USV Jing Hai 2 accompanied the Chinese icebreaker Xuelong to Antarctica in 2014 to help with underwater mapping. China is now building Jing Hai 7. It said future vessels of this class will be used for sea route protection and anti-smuggling operations.

Apart from Shanghai University, several other universities and institutes under China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation and the Chinese Academy of Sciences are also building USVs.

This massive increase in U.S. Navy hardware at the South China Sea comes ahead of the July 12 decision by an international tribunal that will in all likelihood rule against China's claim to own most of the South China Sea.

The Philippines sued China before the international Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague after China's 2012 seizure of Scarborough Shoal, which is located within the Philippines' 200-mile exclusive economic zone.

Tagschina, Unmanned Surface Vehicles, Jing Hai-class, U.S. Navy