An upgraded derivative of Japan’s Mogami class frigate has won a competition to become the Royal Australian Navy’s next major surface warship. Beyond being an important new addition to Australia’s combat fleet, this would be one of, if not the most significant foreign arms sale for Japan since the end of World War II.
Richard Marles, Australia’s Minister for Defence and Deputy Prime Minister, announced the selection of the Japanese bid to replace the Royal Australian Navy’s eight existing Anzac class types on August 5 (it is now Tuesday in Australia). Nikkei Asia in Japan first reported the impending deal on Monday, citing anonymous officials. Australia formally kicked off its search for new frigates in February 2024, as part of a program called SEA 3000. The competitors had reportedly been sworn to secrecy on threat of being kicked out of the competition or even potential criminal prosecution.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is expected to build the first three frigates for Australia in Japan, followed by another eight at a yard in Australia, according to Australian public broadcaster ABC. The entire order has an estimated price tag of $10 billion Australian dollars (nearly $6.5 billion U.S. dollars at the rate of conversion at the time of writing).
Four frigate designs were originally under consideration for SEA 3000: the improved version of the Mogami class (also referred to as the New FFM), the MEKO A-200 from ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) in Germany, the Batch II or Batch III subclasses of South Korea’s Daegu class, and the Alfa 3000 from Spanish shipbuilder Navantia. By the end of last year, the Daegu class and Alfa 3000 offers had been eliminated. It is worth noting here that Australia’s existing Anzac class frigates, which the winner of the SEA 3000 competition is set to replace, are based on an older version of the German MEKO design, while its Hobart class destroyers were designed by Navantia.
The original Mogami class design (also known as the 30FFM), the first of which only entered Japanese service in 2022, is already a very modern design with its shape featuring some stealthy characteristics. The 436-foot-long, 53-and-a-half-foot-wide, 5,500-metric-ton displacement frigates have a combined diesel and gas (CODAG) propulsion system that allows for fuel-efficient normal cruising operations and an additional burst of speed in combat. The ships have an active electronically scanned array (AESA) main radar, as well as a host of other advanced sensors and mission systems. One of the Mogami‘s most distinctive features is its NORA-50 UNIted COmbined Radio aNtenna (UNICORN) mast on top of the main superstructure, which contains various antennas. The frigates also have especially futuristic-looking Combat Information Centers (CIC), as TWZ has highlighted in the past.
Armament-wise, the baseline Mogami class frigate has two four-round launchers for Type 17 anti-ship cruise missiles, a SeaRAM close-in defense system loaded with RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missiles (RAM), and a five-inch main gun in a turret at the bow. There are also two remote weapon stations, each armed with a .50 caliber machine gun, on top of the bridge for additional protection against close-in low-end threats.
The Mogami design was originally slated to feature a 16-cell Mk 41 launch system array, but the seventh ship in the class, the JS Niyodo, which was commissioned in May, was the first to be fitted with it. The first six of these frigates were delivered without this capability, but they are expected to be back-fitted with it in the future. Mk 41 cells on Mogami class frigates are expected to be primarily filled with domestically-developed A-SAM or U.S.-designed RIM-162 Evolved Sea Sparrow Missiles. Four ESSMs can notably be loaded in a single Mk 41 cell.
Mogami class frigates also have a rear flight deck and hangar designed to accommodate a single Seahawk helicopter. You can read more about the design in detail here.
The new FFM derivative of the Mogami is longer (close to 466 feet), wider (nearly 56 feet), and has a displacement of some 6,200 metric tons. As part of the expanded design, the ships feature an enlarged 32-cell VLS array, as well as an upgraded radar, other improved sensors, and updated mission systems.
What Australia-specific features the Japanese entry for the SEA 3000 competition might have are unknown. It is worth noting that the Mk 41 VLS cells on the improved Mogami class design are the longer “strike length” types that can accommodate a wider array of weapons. This includes Tomahawk cruise missiles, which Australia is in the process of integrating onto its Hobart class destroyers.
Overall, the upgraded Mogami class frigate would represent a massive improvement over the Anzac class design, the first of which entered Australian service in 1996 and the youngest of which are now pushing 20 years old. The final selection of the winner of the SEA 3000 competition comes at a time when Australia is facing growing demands to safeguard its own maritime interests, including being able to keep highly strategic maritime trade routes open, particularly amid growing regional competition with China. There is also the prospect of becoming involved in a major conflict in the Pacific with China, alongside allies like the United States and Japan, where naval capabilities would play key roles. With all this in mind, Australia is separately in the process of acquiring its first-ever nuclear attack submarines with the help of the United States and the United Kingdom, as well as looking to bolster its surface and subsurface fleets with new uncrewed capabilities.
Purchasing Mogami class frigates from Japan also deepens Australia’s ties with an important ally, and vice versa. For Japan, a sale of warships would represent a major entry into the global arms market that the country has been building toward for years now. Japanese authorities and defense contractors have clearly been looking to sweeten the offer to Australia. In February, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries announced plans to expand its facilities in Canberra. The month before, Gen. Yoshihide Yoshida, Chief of Staff of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, had said Australia could skip ahead of his country in the production queue if it picked the Mogami offer.
“This does represent a very significant moment in the bilateral relationship between Australia and Japan,” Australia’s Defense Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Marles said in a statement today. “This is clearly the biggest defence industry agreement that will ever have been struck between Japan and Australia. In fact, it’s really one of the biggest defence exports that Japan has ever engaged in.”
This will reportedly be the first time Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has ever built warships outside of Japan, which might help open up additional export prospects. The Mogami class has notably been floated as a potential alternative to the U.S. Navy’s troubled Constellation class frigates.
All of this could have broader ramifications for Japan. The Japanese government’s interpretations of its rights and obligations under Article 9 of the country’s constitution, which prohibits offensive military action, have been steadily evolving in recent years.
Altogether, today’s announcement that the improved Mogami class design has won the SEA 3000 competition is a major development for Australia and Japan that could send ripples beyond the Indo-Pacific region.
Contact the author: joe@twz.com
