Australia and Japan signed contracts on Saturday launching a historic deal worth 10 billion Australian dollars ($7 billion USD) to provide Australia with warships. This represents Tokyo’s largest military export deal since lifting its arms export ban in 2014.
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Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles stated in a press release that he and his Japanese counterpart, Shinjiro Koizumi, signed a memorandum "reaffirming the shared commitment of both governments to the successful delivery" of the warships.
The deal, which was initially brokered in August, bolsters Japan's efforts to pivot away from its post-war pacifist policy in favor of establishing security ties beyond its alliance with the United States to counter China's influence.
Under the agreement, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries will provide the Royal Australian Navy with three advanced multi-role frigates to be built in Japan starting in 2029. An additional eight frigates will be constructed locally in Australia.
The Japanese Ministry of Defense posted on X (formerly Twitter) that Koizumi and Marles welcomed "the conclusion of the multi-role frigate contracts and emphasized the strengthening of bilateral defense relations" during the signing ceremony held in Melbourne.
