On May 23 ADM interviewed Sayako Sumomo, Director of the International Cooperation Division of ATLA’s Department of Equipment Policy, to discuss why the Mogami bid is being viewed with such significance in Japan, as well as Tokyo’s view on the advantages the platform offers.
As with the 2023 exhibition, the DSEI Japan 2025 MoD pavilion showcased Mitsubishi Heavy Industry’s Mogami-class multi-role frigate, which is competing against Germany’s Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems’ MEKO A-200 for a contract to build Australia’s SEA3000 General-Purpose Frigate (GPF). The heightened significance with which Tokyo views the bid was a prominent theme in seminars/speeches delivered by Japanese officials during the DSEI, with Japan’s Minister of Defence claiming the sale could bring Japan-Australia defence cooperation to the “next dimension.”
Sumomo noted that the Mogami’s installation of innovative control room automation technology allows the platform to considerably increase operational efficiency while reducing manpower requirements – the latter a growing priority in view of persistent ADF recruitment shortfalls.
Sumomo also noted that the frigate’s weapons system is interoperable with US carrier groups, which would facilitate closer integration and cooperation with Australia’s most important military ally.
However, Sumomo stated that the bid’s broader significance lay in its additional industrial and strategic dimensions.
Last November Japan’s Cabinet Secretariat, MoD, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) jointly stated that special legislative exemptions facilitating joint development\production of the Mogami were made because Australia is “‘a special strategic partner’ in the Indo-Pacific region” with whom Japan “is building cooperative ties whose closeness is second only to Japan-US defence cooperation.”
Sumomo noted that while Australia and Japan enjoyed burgeoning defence ties, “industrial base cooperation” remains the “missing piece” in the relationship. She added that Tokyo was hopeful that a successful Mogami bid could “propel industrial cooperation” through the proposed joint development/production arrangement, noting that Japanese officials had already contacted potential Australian industry partners, while pointing to the Global Combat Air Program (GCAP) stealth fighter project, jointly developed by Japan, the United Kingdom and Italy, as an example of Japan’s desire and capacity for defence industry outreach.
Sumomo emphasised that Japan was particularly keen to participate in the co-development of a stronger “defence industrial base” within the Asia-Pacific region which could advance supply chain security and regional resilience for US partners.
Yet Sumomo also explained that a key reason for the Japanese government’s heavy involvement in the SEA300 bid was because Tokyo viewed the project not only as a “business proposal,” but as an “important strategic endeavour.”
In particular, Japanese defence officials feel the two nations possession of a “common asset” could advance interoperability and take the relationship to a new stage, as well as further strengthen trilateral defence ties between the two nations and the United States, stated Sumomo.
When asked to explain Minister of Defence Gen Nakatari’s statement that a successful bid would bring the two nations’ defence ties to the “next dimension,” Sumomo noted that deeper “layers” of cooperation could be expedited by Australia’s decision to acquire the Mogami.
Sumomo pointed to increased regulatory alignment, equipment cooperation, personnel exchange and joint exercises as examples of dimensions which would be concomitant to moves to deepen interoperability and industry collaboration.
The third and largest DSEI Japan defence and security exhibition, hosted in Chiba, Japan on May 21-23, showcased the burgeoning aspirations and export orientation of Japan’s defence industry.
This year’s event featured an unprecedented 169 Japanese exhibitors – almost double the 86 participants in 2023. Japanese pavilions accounted for more than a third of the total 471 exhibitors, which this year hailed from a record 33 countries.
This increase comes on the back of a concerted push in Tokyo to support Japanese defence exporters – following a doctrinal shift in Tokyo to view the nation’s “defence industrial base” as “our defence itself.” The 2023 Indo Pacific International Maritime Exposition, hosted in Sydney, saw Japan’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) appear alongside Japanese firms for the first time.
Government backing was again on full display in DSEI Japan 2025, which was attended by Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, Minister of Defence Gen Nakatari and other high ranking Japanese dignitaries.
Japan’s Mitsubishi group has been at the forefront of efforts by Tokyo to promote Japan’s defence export industry.
In 2023 Mitsubishi Electric signed a groundbreaking joint development agreement with Australia’s Department of Defence to produce systems that can enhance the survivability and surveillance capability of Australian military assets.
That deal was touted as establishing a “symbolic precedent” of defence technology cooperation between the two nations, and a “new step for the nation” in the direction of “public-private sector integration to promote [defence] equipment transfer.”
Yet the level of government backing for the Sea 3000 tender bid has been unprecedented.
Last year Tokyo mobilised the Cabinet Secretariat, MoD and five other Ministries to form a high-powered joint public-private promotion committee for the bid. It also instructed the MoD’s Acquisition, Technology & Logistics Agency (ATLA) to produce English language promotional material for the Mogami, and, through a National Security Council (NSC) meeting, devised a framework for enabling Australia-Japan joint development and production of the platform.
Earlier this year it was reported that Australian defence officials were given a guided tour of a Mogami-class frigate, the Noshiro, which was dispatched to Darwin and to Western Australia’s HMAS Stirling naval base.
Australian exhibits received a high level of interest from Japanese stakeholders during DSEI Japan 2025, with a number of exhibitors telling ADM that they had met high ranking Japanese government and defence officials, including Japan’s Minister of Defence, in what was widely assessed to be a highly successful outing for Australia’s defence exporters.
Australia was one of the best represented foreign nations in the event, which featured over 40 exhibits from Australian-based or founded firms, over half of which were located in Team Defence Australia’s (TDA) Australian pavilion.