Japan has signed a deal with Australia worth 10 billion Australian dollars (approximately USD 6.5 billion) for the supply of military vessels. This marks Japan\u2019s largest defense agreement since lifting its ban on arms exports in 2014.<\/p>\n
Under the agreement, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries will build three Mogami-class multi-role frigates in Japan for the Royal Australian Navy starting in 2029. An additional eight ships will be constructed in Australia.<\/p>\n
The frigates are designed for anti-submarine warfare, surface attacks, and air defense. These advanced Mogami-class vessels require only 90 crew members, roughly half the number needed for older Anzac-class frigates.<\/p>\n
Australia plans to use these ships to safeguard strategic maritime trade routes and northern approaches in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, where China\u2019s military presence is increasing.<\/p>\n
Mogami-class frigates have a displacement of about 5,500 tons, a hull length of 132.5 meters, and a beam of 16.3 meters. They are powered by a combined diesel-gas turbine propulsion system, enabling speeds of over 30 knots.<\/p>\n
Their range has been extended to 10,000 nautical miles. The vertical launch system can accommodate 32 anti-ship or surface-to-air missiles. Each ship can also carry a multi-role helicopter and various unmanned underwater mine countermeasure systems.<\/p>\n
The agreement represents Japan\u2019s broader strategy to expand defense cooperation beyond its alliance with the United States, particularly to counterbalance China’s influence.<\/p>\n
The contract also helps Japan recover from a setback in 2016, when Australia chose a French submarine project over a Japanese one. That deal was later canceled in 2023 in favor of nuclear submarine construction under the AUKUS pact with the US and UK.<\/p>\n
The first three Japan-built frigates will be Australia\u2019s largest naval procurement since the launch of AUKUS. The remaining eight ships are expected to be built by Austal in Western Australia.<\/p>\n
Final signing of the contract is expected early next year, as negotiations continue over pricing, servicing, and production transfer.<\/p>\n
Following the announcement, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries\u2019 shares rose 5.7% in Tokyo, while Austal\u2019s shares jumped 7.94%, reflecting investor confidence in the steady stream of upcoming orders.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":150047,"menu_order":0,"template":"","newscat":[9],"newstag":[],"issues":[],"class_list":["post-150046","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","newscat-novosti"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ldaily.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/150046","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ldaily.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ldaily.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ldaily.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/150047"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ldaily.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=150046"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"newscat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ldaily.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newscat?post=150046"},{"taxonomy":"newstag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ldaily.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newstag?post=150046"},{"taxonomy":"issues","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ldaily.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issues?post=150046"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}