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Royal Australian Navy’s plan for fleet refresh continues in the face of headwinds

5th August 2025 - 16:16 GMT | by Damian Kemp in London, England

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Australia is set to purchase up to 11 Mogami-class frigates. (Image: MHI/Australian Department of Defence)

Australia has selected the Mogami-class frigate from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) to replace Royal Australian Navy (RAN) Anzac-class frigates. The decision has been made as the RAN pushes to introduce delayed offshore patrol vessels (OPVs), awaits criticised Hunter-class ships and lives in the shadow of threats to the Collins-class submarine replacement efforts.

The Australian Government has selected the upgraded Japanese Mogami-class frigate as the preferred platform for the RAN’s future fleet of general purpose frigates, beating out the MEKO A-200 design from German shipyard ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems.

Defence Australia will now proceed to the next stage of the procurement process with MHI and plans to go to contract with the company and the government of Japan in 2026. Under the plan, the first three general purpose frigates would be built offshore with the first scheduled to be delivered to Australia in 2029 and operational in 2030.

Shephard Defence Insight estimates that the

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