Mogami-class Frigate

Japan's stealth frigate — and its first big arms export — the Mogami-class (30FFM) is a compact, low-signature multi-mission warship that does the work of larger ships with a remarkably small, highly-automated crew. It folds anti-submarine, anti-air and surface combat together with mine warfare and unmanned systems on one stealthy hull. And in 2025 it became a landmark of Japanese rearmament and export policy: Australia chose the Upgraded Mogami over a German rival for its future frigate fleet — Tokyo's first major overseas defence contract in the postwar era.

Overview

The Mogami-class (designated 30FFM, also 30DX) is a multi-mission stealth frigate built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries for the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF). Its design goals were capability density, stealth and efficiency: a low-radar-cross-section hull (with reduced infrared and acoustic signatures) packing area air defence, anti-submarine and anti-surface weapons, mine-countermeasures capability, and the ability to deploy unmanned surface and underwater vehicles, all operated by a small, heavily-automated crew (around 90, far fewer than comparable warships) using a futuristic combat-information centre with panoramic and augmented-reality displays. At roughly 133 m and ~5,500 tonnes it is a true multi-role frigate built in numbers to expand the JMSDF's fleet affordably. An evolved "Upgraded Mogami" (with a larger hull, expanded sensors and a bigger missile battery) was selected by Australia in 2025 — making the class the centrepiece of Japan's emergence as a defence exporter.

Development

Japan conceived the 30FFM in the mid-2010s as a "compact multi-functional destroyer," with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries as builder, to grow the fleet with cheaper, smaller-crewed multi-mission ships, per Wikipedia and Army Recognition. The lead ship commissioned in 2022, and Japan is building 12 of the original class plus 12 more "New FFM" (06FFM) evolved ships — the latter larger, with a 32-cell strike-length VLS. The class's breakthrough came in 2025 in Australia: Canberra's competition for a new general-purpose frigate came down to MHI's Upgraded Mogami versus Germany's ThyssenKrupp MEKO A-200, and in August 2025 Australia selected the Upgraded Mogami as its preferred platform, per the Australian Department of Defence and Naval News. Australia plans up to 11 ships (the first built in Japan, later ones in Australia), and a contract for the first three was signed in 2026 — Japan's first major overseas defence-equipment contract, a milestone for a country that only recently loosened its arms-export rules.

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