Japanese frigates to bring defence, economic benefits
Mogami was selected over the German-made ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems’ MEKO A-200 because it was the more capable ship and the company had a better industrial plan, Defence Minister Richard Marles announced. As Australian Strategic Policy Institute senior analyst Euan Graham said before the decision was announced, he had been told the Japanese were “ahead on every significant criteria except price”. The US is believed to have quietly supported the Japanese bid. The frigates will help secure Australia’s maritime trade routes and vital northern approaches.
It is a significant advantage that Japan offered to allocate a ship that was already in production to Australia, accelerating delivery of the first vessel. It is scheduled to be delivered in 2029 and operational in 2030. The program will cost $10bn over a decade, delivering three vessels to be built in Japan. The remaining eight will be built at the Henderson shipbuilding precinct in Western Australia. Japanese ambassador Kazuhiro Suzuki said the process would kickstart an advanced manufacturing boom in Australia, as Ben Packham reports. Before the decision was announced, Mr Suzuki said at least 12 major Japanese companies would invest in Australia if MHI’s bid succeeded.
While Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy previously said that the decision would be made on the basis of the frigates’ design and the bidders’ industrial plans, rather than geopolitical considerations, the selection also provides important strategic benefits. “There’s no other country in the world that is quite as aligned with Australia as Japan,’’ Mr Marles said. The contract would cement Japan’s quasi alliance with Australia (sometimes colloquially referred to as “Jaukus’’), Mr Suzuki said, adding: “Japan and Australia held 39 joint exercises last year, including multilateral ones – roughly one in every nine days.’’
The decision, which deserves the bipartisan support it has attracted, is the Albanese government’s most important and best defence decision to date, as Greg Sheridan writes. It contributes to the strategic evolution of Japan as a major military and industrial power within the US alliance and gives life to the vision that Tony Abbott pioneered as prime minister by trying to partner with Tokyo to build Australia’s future submarine.
On that occasion, Japan lost out to France’s Naval Group, which later lost the contract when the Morrison government committed to the AUKUS partnership, with nuclear-powered submarines.
As China takes its military build-up across the Asia-Pacific region to a level unparalleled since World War II, dangerous times demand lethal defences. The Mogami frigate is designed to carry plenty of firepower. Mr Marles described it as a “next-generation’’ stealthy vessel, with 32 vertical launch cells capable of launching long-range missiles. It also has a highly capable radar and sonar. It was “a general-purpose frigate capable of engaging in air warfare and undersea warfare”, he said.
News of the frigates comes a day after Mr Marles announced an improvement in the number of ADF recruitments and retention. Rarely has defence hardware and personnel mattered as much in peacetime. Purchasing the MHI frigates is an important step that paves the way not only for more defence spending, but judicious spending.
The Albanese government has made the right choice in selecting Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to build the navy’s new fleet of 11 frontline warships. In an increasingly dangerous strategic environment in the region, the Mogami-class frigate will be vital to the Australian Defence Force for 40 years. After years of problems with the much-delayed Hunter-class frigate program and the ageing Collins class submarines, and the first, vitally important nuclear-powered submarine not due until the early 2030s under the AUKUS pact, the Japanese boats will give the ADF a much-needed boost of momentum.