Photo/Illutration A mock model of the FFM "Upgraded Mogami" class is displayed during the Defense Security Equipment International (DSEI) Japan at Makuhari Messe in Chiba, east of Tokyo, Japan May 21, 2025. (REUTERS)

SYDNEY--Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries will deliver Australia’s new A$10 billion ($6.5 billion) navy frigate program, Australian Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said on Tuesday.

The frigate contract, expected to be signed by the end of the year, will be the biggest Australian defense purchase since the government agreed to build nuclear-powered submarines with the United States and Britain in 2023, and one of Japan’s biggest defense export deals.

“It’s going to be really important in terms of giving our navy the capability to project, and impactful projection is at the heart of the strategic challenge,” Marles said, adding it was “a very significant moment in the bilateral relationship between Australia and Japan.”

MHI’s Mogami frigate was selected over German company Thyssen­Krupp Marine Systems’ MEKO A-200 in a meeting of the government’s national security committee on Monday.

The upgraded Mogami-class frigate was capable of launching long-range missiles and had a range of up to 10,000 nautical miles, compared to Australia’s current Anzac Class frigates, which had a range of around 6,000 nautical miles, Marles said. It also operated with a smaller crew than the Anzac class.

The government said in 2024 it would spend up to A$10 billion for the general-purpose frigates to replace the Anzac Class. They will be equipped for undersea warfare and air defense to secure maritime trade routes and Australia’s northern approaches.

It says the first three general-purpose frigates will be built offshore, with the remainder built in Western Australia.

The first frigate is expected to be delivered in 2029.

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