Japan’s Futuristic Mogami Frigate Will Be Australia’s Next Warship
5th August 2025
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.
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