STORY: :: Australia signs a major $7 billion contract with Japan for a supply of warships
:: Melbourne, Australia / April 18, 2026
:: Richard Marles, Australian defense minister
"Today, we are announcing that contracts have now been signed for the provision of the upgraded Mogami-class frigates to the Royal Australian Navy as our new general purpose frigate with the first of those to be delivered to Australia in December of 2029."
"The signing of the Mogami Memorandum, which we have just done now, will deepen defense industry cooperation between our two nations, specifically in the development of this critical capability for the Royal Australian Navy and also for Japan."
Marles and his Japanese counterpart Shinjiro Koizumi signed a memorandum "reaffirming the Australian and Japanese governments' shared commitment to the successful delivery" of the warships, Marles said in a statement.
The deal, struck in August, anchors Japan's push away from its postwar pacifism to forge security ties beyond its alliance with the U.S. to counter China.
Australia plans to deploy the ships - designed to hunt submarines, strike surface ships and provide air defense - to defend critical maritime trade routes and its northern approaches in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, where China's military footprint is expanding.
