Japan supplies Australia with warships worth $7 billion

Today, Australia and Japan signed contracts worth 10 billion Australian dollars (about 7 billion US dollars) to supply Australia with warships, in the largest military deal for Tokyo since the arms export embargo was lifted in 2014.

Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles said in a statement that he signed the contracts with his Japanese counterpart, Shinjiro Koizumi, confirming the commitment of both governments to the successful implementation of the warship delivery program.

Under the agreement, the Japanese company Mitsubishi Heavy Industries will supply the Royal Australian Navy with three upgraded multi-mission frigates, which will be built in Japan starting in 2029, with eight other frigates to be built in Australia.

For its part, the Japanese Ministry of Defense reported on the “X” platform that Koizumi and Marles welcomed the conclusion of contracts for multi-mission frigates, and stressed the strengthening of bilateral defense relations between the two countries.

This deal comes in light of Australia’s recent announcement of its intention to raise its defense spending to 3% of GDP by 2033, compared to about 2% currently.