Australia, Japan Sign Contracts to Start $7 Billion Warship Deal

Defense Ministers Richard Marles and 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, Reuters reported.

The deal struck ‌in ⁠August anchors Japan’s ⁠push away from its postwar pacifism to forge security ties beyond its alliance with the US to counter China.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is to supply the Royal Australian Navy with three upgraded Mogami-class ⁠multi-role frigates built in Japan from ‌2029. Eight ‌more frigates will be built in Australia.

Japan’s Defense ‌Ministry posted on X that Koizumi ‌and Marles welcomed the “conclusion of contracts for General Purpose Frigates, and confirmed to further strengthen bilateral defense ties” in the signing in ‌Melbourne.

Contracts were signed for the first three frigates, to be built ⁠in ⁠Japan, before there is a “transition to an onshore build” at the Henderson shipyard near Perth in Western Australia, Marles said.

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.