In a major breakthrough for Japan¡¯s defense industry, Tokyo on Saturday reached a landmark agreement with Canberra to supply the first three of a planned fleet of 11 upgraded Mogami-class frigates to the Australian Navy, the largest defense export contract in Japan¡¯s postwar history.
Signed in Melbourne by Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi and his Australian counterpart, Richard Marles, the multibillion dollar deal underscores the deepening strategic alignment between the quasi-allies and heralds significantly expanded military and industrial cooperation.
¡°We will see the first of these frigates come to Australia in 2029 and in the early 2030s the general-purpose frigate, the Mogami class, will be the backbone of continuous naval shipbuilding in Western Australia,¡± Marles said in a ceremony aboard the Maritime Self-Defense Force¡¯s Mogami-class frigate Kumano, which was in Australia to take part in the Kakadu multilateral maritime exercise.
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