A detachment of four U.S. E/A-18G Growler aircraft and about 120 personnel have arrived in the Philippines to help train that country's forces — and patrol its airspace and seas — amid Manila's territorial dispute with Beijing in the South China Sea, the U.S. Navy's 7th Fleet said in a statement released Thursday.

The statement made a veiled reference to the U.S. Navy's so-called freedom of navigation operations in the disputed waters, where Beijing's land-reclamation projects have created what Washington calls a "great wall of sand."

It said the detachment, which arrived at Clark Air Base on Wednesday, will also "support routine operations that enhance regional maritime domain awareness and assure access to the air and maritime domains in accordance with international law."

Washington and Manila have bolstered defense ties amid China's growing assertiveness in the region, including this year's implementation of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement that lets the U.S. rotate troops through the Philippines on an extended basis.

The latest detachment is part of an air contingent established by the U.S. Pacific Command in April to promote interoperability and security cooperation, the 7th Fleet said. It will train Philippine FA-50 fighter pilots and support units located there.

The first contingent, deployed in April, included five A-10C Thunderbolt "warthog" aircraft, three HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopters and about 200 personnel. That contingent wrapped up its mission in late April.

Earlier that month, four of the A-10Cs attack planes and two HH-60Gs flew through international airspace in the vicinity of the disputed Scarborough Shoal, just 230 km west of the Philippines.

The shoal, a key flash point, is seen as a site where Beijing may carry out further land reclamation in the event of an unfavorable international arbitration court ruling in the coming weeks over its claims to the South China Sea.

China has declined to take part in the case and has vowed to ignore the ruling.

Beijing has maintained a steady presence at the reef, which is well within Manila's 200-nautical-mile (370-km) economic exclusion zone, since it seized it more than four years ago.

Analysts say that in the event of a crisis, a deployment of weapons such as missile batteries to a reclaimed area of the shoal could put at risk not only the Philippine military, but also U.S. forces in the country.