Australia orders three Upgraded Mogami frigates from Japan

Following the Japanese Ministry of Defense award of a contract to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) to build three upgraded Mogami-class (06FFM) under the Japanese FY2025 defense budget (see page 31), Australia immediately signed the “Mogami Memorandum” - the expected deal with the Japanese government for the first batch of three Upgraded Mogami-class frigates, the first of which is scheduled for delivery in December 2029.

Upgraded Mogami Model displayed by MHI at Indo Pacific 2025. Image: navalnews.
---

The following chart, provided by Navalnews.com to highlight the rise in cost for the upgraded Mogami, also indicates that FY2025 is the first year three hulls have been ordered. As an upgraded Mogami takes three years from hull laying to launch, this should indicate that the ‘third’ FY2025 hull is the first Australian ship to meet Australia's tight delivery timeline.

We have discussed the 06FFM when the class was selected by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) to fulfil its General Purpose frigate program (project SEA 3000) in August 2025, but it is surprising how fast Australia is moving forward with this AUD$20-25 billion dollar program, with the remaining 8 hulls will be built at the Austal Henderson Australia facility, now a very busy shipyard as Austal is ramping up for construction of eighteen Landing Craft Medium (LCM) and eight Damen LST1000 Landing Craft Heavy (LCH). All 18 LCMs are scheduled for delivery by 2032, while all LCH are to be delivered by 2038.

Austal will start the build programs for 8 LCH and 18 LCM in 2026. Image: Austal
---

The urgency and speed at which the SEA 3000 project has moved is due to the Surface Fleet Review that the Australian government commissioned in 2023, where the failure of the Arafura OPV program (mainly due to changing specifications) and the delays and cost growth in the Hunter-class saw the Australian government slash both programs in early 2024. With the RAN’s workhorse Anzac-class frigates now approaching 30 years of age and due for retirement, a near Military off-the-shelf (MOTS) solution was sought - the first batch of Australian 06FFM frigates should be delivered with few changes - it was confirmed in November 2025 that they will be equipped with SeaRAM and NSM, and will likely use the RAN's standard CEAFAR AESA radar system.

Setting up the Henderson Precinct as a major military shipbuilding hub has major domestic political bonuses for the ruling Australian Labour Party (ALP), but with Japan relaxing military export rules, Australia has now positioned itself as a big military-industrial partner to Japan.