Australia and Japan sign contracts for $7bn warships deal

Defence deal is latest example of deepening ties between Canberra and Tokyo amid shared concerns over China’s rise.Australia and Japan have signed contracts for the first three of 11 warships set to be delivered to the Australian navy under a landmark $7bn defence deal, as the two close US allies in the Asia Pacific region deepen defence cooperation.Australia’s Defence Minister Richard Marles and Japanese Defence Minister Koizumi Shinjiro made the announcement in Melbourne on Saturday at the signing ceremony for the Mogami-class warships.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Manchester United beat Chelsea as Cunha strike boosts Champions League hopelist 2 of 4Iran navy says any ship trying to pass Strait of Hormuz will be targetedlist 3 of 4Trinidad and Tobago police uncover 56 bodies, mostly children, at cemeterylist 4 of 4North Korea launches ballistic missiles towards sea off its east coastend of listThe “Mogami Memorandum” pledges to deepen military ties, including through “closer industrial cooperation” in defence.Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries will build three of the stealth frigates in southern Nagasaki Prefecture, while Australia’s Austal will build eight in Western Australia.The first of the Japanese-built warships is scheduled to be delivered in 2029 and enter service in 2030.“Our surface fleet is more important than at any time in decades,” Marles said in a statement.“These general-purpose frigates will help secure our maritime trade routes and northern approaches as part of a larger and more lethal surface combatant fleet.”Shinjiro said closer defence coordination was becoming more important as Australia and Japan faced an “increasingly severe security environment”.Australia’s government last year announced that it had chosen Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to build its fleet of next-generation warships, following a bidding war between the Tokyo-based firm and Germany’s Thyssenkrupp.Australia has committed to a record $305bn in military spending over the next decade, as part of a widespread defence overhaul aimed at boosting the country’s naval power to levels not seen since World War II.