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US allies turning to Japan for defence supplies as Iran war drags on
JS Kumano, a Mogami-class frigate from Japan's Maritime Self-Defence Force, in Sydney Harbour. ((Supplied: Department of Defence))
Australia's multi-billion-dollar deal with Japan for its future warships could set a template that will help Tokyo rapidly expand defence exports across Asia.
Last weekend, it was announced that Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is to supply the Royal Australian Navy with three upgraded Mogami-class frigates.
Days after the announcement, Japan unveiled its biggest overhaul of defence export rules in decades.
Australia's multi-billion-dollar deal with Japan for its future warships could set a template that will help Tokyo rapidly expand defence exports across Asia as Tokyo mulls an overhaul of its post-war pacifist constitution.
Massive frigate buy from Japan jolts Australian warship program
MANILA, Philippines â Australia has moved to reverse a decline in the number of warships, as its surface combatant fleet stands to fall to its smallest size since World War II.
Under Project Sea 3000, Australia and Japan inked a deal to buy three upgraded Mogami-class frigates for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). The contract was signed by the two countriesâ defense ministers aboard JS Kumano in Melbourne earlier this month.
This represents Japanâs largest-ever defense export, a major boost to its shipbuilding industry, and it advances greater strategic alignment between the two countries.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) will construct three 4,800-ton frigates in Japan, with the first to be delivered by December 2029.
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Japan’s hawkish PM could drag Australia into conflict with China
Ahead of the Japanese prime minister’s visit, has Canberra fully thought through the implications of its burgeoning defence links with Tokyo?
Next week’s visit to Australia by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi marks a distinct tightening of the Canberra-Tokyo security relationship.
These closer defence ties represent the most extraordinary chapter in a near seven-decade story of post-war reconciliation since the two signed the 1957 Commerce Agreement.
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