Colin Clarke; Breaking Defense Indo Pacific 3rd July 2025: “We the Japanese government will guarantee that the whole project, and all the contracts will go smoothly so that there will not be any delay to the project,” Osamu Nishiwaki, a top official at Japan’s Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Agency (ATLA), told reporters.

NAGASAKI — Japan isn’t being shy about its desire to turn Australia into the inaugural customer for its advanced Mogami frigate, with the usually-conservative Ministry of Defense taking the rare step of flying Australian-based reporters to Nagasaki this week in order to hype up the Mogami’s capabilities. Reporters were briefed for three days about the ship’s systems, Japan’s strong view that it and Australia would benefit from an even closer defense and industrial relationship and the fact that shipbuilder Mistubishi Heavy Industry will include all the program’s intellectual property and provide parts and support for the ships predicted 40-year lifespan. [by editor – at face value this appears to be a significant point of difference to the historical approach of European ship/submarine suppliers].

As a sign of the government’s full-court press, Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani attended the launch and naming of the 11th ship of the class, and made a point of presenting his business card to each reporter after the launch ceremony. (Breaking Defense, like other outlets, accepted travel and accommodations for the trip.) Should Australia buy the Mogami it would, Nakatani told reporters, “increase sustainment and resilience” in the Indo-Pacific. He, and almost every industry and government official reporters spoke with, stressed this is an “all-Japan government approach” to demonstrate how ready and committed Japan is to export its first major weapon system since before World War II.

Among the features that Japanese officials stressed was the ship’s advanced Combat Information Center (CIC), from where the captain would manage the ship, surrounded by up to 30 officers, though it would normally be manned by a crew of 10. The CIC is belowdecks and is protected by what officials described as tank armor, which requires highly specialized welding techniques to attach to the ship’s structure.

The Mogami frigate’s Combat Information Centre, a key design feature of the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’ ship, source: Government of Japan