In April 2026 Australia signed a deal with Japan for 11 new Mogami-class general-purpose frigates The first three ships will be built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) in Japan, with the lead vessel due for delivery in late 2029. The remaining eight will be constructed in Western Australia. Valued at up to A$20 billion, these stealthy, multi-role ~4,800-ton frigates will replace the Anzac-class vessels and form the backbone of the RAN’s Tier 2 surface fleet. Their rapid acquisition shows the urgency of our capability gaps. It is Japan's largest arms deal and marks a historic deepening of Australia-Japan strategic ties.

This comes on top a series of other naval purchases:

* 3 Hobart-class guided-missile destroyers based on Spain’s Navantia F100 design with Aegis combat system.

* 6 Hunter-class anti-submarine warfare frigates based on the British Type 26 design, built by BAE Systems in Osborne, South Australia.

* Up to 8 Arafura-class Offshore Patrol Vessels (SEA 1180) for constabulary and patrol roles. Additional variants considered for mine countermeasures/hydrographic duties.

* 6 Evolved Cape-class Patrol Boats

* Of course there are the AUKUS subs

* 2 new Supply-class Auxiliary Oiler Replenishers (HMAS Supply and Stalwart) They provide fleet replenishment (fuel, ammo, stores)

* Up to 'dozens' of Ghost Shark Extra Large Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (XL-AUV) ie large submarine drones.

* an unknown number of Naval Strike Missiles both for these new vessels and for shore launch.

Overall, by the mid to late 2030s Australia will be cemented as the primary regional naval power able to project and protect our vital sealanes and at least give major adversaries (ie China) cause for pause by threatening their lines of communication through Malacca. That these new vessels are being purchases from Japan, following on from the purchase of the AUKUS subs from the USA and the Hunter class frigates from Britain, shows an increasing integration of western militaries as they face the Chinese threat.

This naval expansion will see Australia sitting as the regional naval hegemon for decades to come.

Great!

"This naval expansion will see Australia sitting as the regional naval hegemon for decades to come."
- Do you actually believe that?

One would hope they are not constructed with the same dodgy Chinese low grade steel that lands on Australian shores at present.

The manning of these proposed vessels will be comical, judged on our out of control immigration from India, the Middle East and North African Muslims. Will they have prayer rooms with call for prayer five times a day one wonders.

Maybe crews of Transvestites and another of Lesbians; and a crew of homosexuals, and last and at the bottom of the crewing list, white straight males…God forbid: Thats of course, if the Christian God is not forbidden from mention.

All of this fantasy will go the way of the Snowy 2.0 scheme, how can it not?

All the above rubbish whilst Australians are homeless and go hungry in the streets.

Trump Derangement Syndrome is coming back to bite itself in the backside.
As Trump abandons America first, more normal supporters abandon Trump, meaning the ones that are left are the most diehard and extreme; the lunatic pro-Israeli core that co-opted MAGA like a cancer doubles down on stupid.

It's a bit like Israel.
The normal people left Israel, what remains is increasingly diehard religious extremists.
Look at Ben G'vir and Smotrich in Israel, and then look at Hegseth and Huckabee in America, they're all religious crazy people.

But I'm sure the Israelis will be heading over to pump up the Democrats donations soon, and we'll go from Pro-Israel right causes, back to Pro-Israel left causes.

America will go from Pro-Genocide back to Pro-Transgender / Pro-Immigrants
Democracy is truly the march of the moron.

I think I've come to realise I'm neither left or right,
But more anti-lunatic fringe of either party.
Which is interesting, because you all think that I'm the lunatic anti-semite, and I also did previously support Hanson.
I'm a person of individual policy positions, not loyalty to any mob.

Diver Dan rightly raises the problem of getting the personnel to man naval vessels. With the Ben Roberts-Smith persecution back on the agenda, with his trial tipped to drag out over 5 years, there won’t be too many young Australians rushing to join up. All those immigrants replacing Australians? They will hotfoot it back to their shiteholes of origin at the first threat of war or conscription.

Governments cannot treat Australians the way they have over the last 30 years and expect these same people to protect a country that they no longer feel is their own. The current government in particular prefers immigrants to locals.

On the business of people starving in the streets, I’m not sure that this is genuine. The idea that people are finding it hard to ‘put food on the table’ is broadcast to us, on TV, by paid actors.

The latest advertisement, authorised by Twiggy Forest’s outfit has these actors moaning about the diesel subsidies for mining companies, which they think should be subsidising their inability to manage their own affairs. If the Albanese government did decide to stop the subsidies, they would waste it like they waste all the other money they rob from taxpayers.

Given the latest polls on our disgraceful politicians, the hoi polloi might be waking up at last: too late in my opinion.

"they (government) would waste it like they waste all the other money they rob from taxpayers." like paying AGED WELFARE to non contributing, non productive Old Farts.

Hi AC,

"not loyalty to any mob" What's wrong with MOB RULE, a bit of looting and rioting, it fills in the hour of news with feel good stories between 'Blankety Blanks' at 5 o'clock and 'The Real Housewives Of Hollywood' at 7pm. What more could you ask for?

Australia has not had any problems manning its naval forces in the past, and won't in the future. Indeed, at the moment they have more people applying to join the navy than positions available. Remember also that these are 21st century vessels that are increasingly automated and require fewer on-board crew. This is especially so as regards the frigates being purchased from Japan, a country that has faced the problems of a declining population for more than a generation and is well versed in automation both in manning and building these vessels.

I wonder how many people under the Albanese authoritarian yoke realise that in Australia, publicised arrests such as the Ben Roberts-Smith spectacle are deliberate and part of the system. In the U.S. this type of behaviour is banned.

In Australia, in the case of BRS, the AFP invited the media to attend the arrest and broadcast it. BRS had volunteered to hand himself in, but no: the arrest, at an airport (must have been on the lam, so must be guilty) is part of the Australian "justice" system.

Remember Cardinal Pell being pushed through the the mad mobs to the court every day when he could have gone in the back way?

BTW, the Commissioner of the wonderful Australian Federal Police behind this is the same Commissioner who announced that Islamic terrorism (Bondi) had nothing to do with religion! How credible is she? How good is her judgement?

Mhaze,

Yes. Automation could be the answer, if there is enough of it, and it is available before it is too late. Any figures you have on the ease that the navy is having with recruitment would be interesting.

All I have seen is from the MSM advising that frigates are laid up due to lack of crew.

And, people are not keen on being submariners.

As far as I know, the Shark is the only uncrewed vessel on the horizon.

Of course, this renewed Australian push to protect itself from the growing threat from Peking isn't isolated to Australia. Trump has galvanised or cajoled a general western effort to face-down the imperialism emanating from the Middle Kingdom.

Japan, from whom we are buying these frigates, has roused itself and thrown off the pacificism that followed their defeat in 1945. They are rapidly expanding their forces and there is now the push to integrate with other anti-China nations such as Australia. The growing resistance coming from Tokyo is greatly distressing for China and increases their paranoia.

We also see the Philippines moving into the US led camp with growing US presence in places like Luzon and Subic Bay and larger numbers of missiles like HIMARS being stationed in the Philippines.

Likewise, Indonesia has only last month signed the Major Defense Cooperation Partnership (MDCP) agreement with the Trump administration, giving the west including the USA and Australia greater control of China's vital links through the Malacca Straits.

India, in the past, had a policy of trying to avoid the Chinese menace by keeping its head down while it modernised. But it also is moving into the Trump-USA camp with things like the Quad agreements and the 10-Year Defense Framework (2025–2035) signed last year with the US.

The world has awoken to the Chinese threat and is reacting. Australia is part of that. Additionally, wavering states have seen the Chinese humiliation in Venezuela, Panama and now Iran and are drawing the conclusion that the US is the strong horse in this conflict.

AI describes a "15 year record high" in RAN recruitment".

75, 000 applicants! Number accepted not known.

Unfortunately, no dates are mentioned, so we are stuck with the latest media claims that Albanese, on more than one occasion, hasn't been able to assist the U.S. because there was not a ship, or there wasn't a crew.

Given the decades of government dereliction of duty when it comes to defence, up to and including the French submarine fiasco, AUKUS being sung to the tune of ‘Somewhere over the rainbow’, and the stubborn refusal to lift defence spending to 3%, should we be taking all this sudden interest in ships seriously, one asks.

Sounds great. But, signing up to all sorts of stuff does not represent “purchases”. Purchases that should have been made long ago - at least as long ago as China has been arming itself, by itself. It makes its own. We have to rely on other countries not particularly much like ourselves, since Albanese turned his back on the U.S., and the UK is as useless, if not more so, than we are.

If any of the plans ever come to fruition by the “late 2030s”, ‘late’, as in too late, they will be. AUKUS is at the pleasure of America, and ‘signed deals’ could go the same way the French one did, with feckless politicians paying out to do so.

Hi ttbn,
"I wonder how many people under the Albanese authoritarian yoke realise that in Australia, publicised arrests such as the Ben Roberts-Smith spectacle are deliberate and part of the system. In the U.S. this type of behaviour is banned."
- Well that's absolute rubbish, the U.S. government loves the 'perpwalk' spectacles.

Did Ben Roberts Smith deliberately murder non-combatants?
Was he defending Australia or invading another country?

'the stubborn refusal to lift defence spending to 3%'
- We shouldn't be spending one cent on U.S. weapons which are only needed to be used for U.S. caused wars.

We need to step back with sober minds and look at this changing world and our place in it.

What the hell are we fighting for?
Do we still make Australian cars?
No, but China is the leading exporter of cars we import.

We can't even build the ships ourselves.
We couldn't build the subs because we didn't have enough welders.

And fighting China is such a dumb idea we may as well just burn our own country down ourselves, because everything is Chinese made now.
It would amount to the exact same thing.

America wants us to spend more but it can't even produce the weapons because it's output is minimal and China controls all the rare earth supply chains.

Hi mhaze,
"Of course, this renewed Australian push to protect itself from the growing threat from Peking".

- Please explain this growing threat in as much detail as possible.
I say you're full of it, the only threat is that they've become more powerful than the U.S. and the yanks can't accept it.
You speak like there's a 1 million strong invasion force already on the way.
China doesn't need to invade.
They could simply stop all exports to Australia and in about 2 weeks, Aussies including many in business would be looking to make any government pay dearly that did it.

You'd have everyone from single mums with screaming kids in tow to tradies all the way to corporate throwing conniption fits.
Kmart shelves empty and Wesfamers and every other businesses share price plummeting.

And we don't even have enough troops and police combined just to round up the existing Chinese we already have here, are you going to let them run free during a war?

So don't talk garbage.
The only thing this can be about is the U.S starting a war with China itself to maintain it's own hegemony so cut the crap.
Beyond that China doesn't need to do anything to 'win' anyway.

It's up to Japan, Taiwan and South Korea to maintain their own healthy relationship with China.
Some of them are sick of the U.S. as well, they doubt it's ability to protect them and wish they would leave but are too polite to say so.

It's people like yourself that will drag out countries kids to early graves in unnecessary conflict.
- And they're not up to it either.

'anti-China nations such as Australia'
- How about you go without using Chinese made goods for a week?
If you wish to be China's enemy fine, go down the local shops and wear a 'I hate China' T-shirt for all I care.
Just don't include the rest of us in your march to conflict and destruction.

'Can't even build the ships ourselves'
'SHUTTUP! I'M OUTRAGED HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT?'
- 'We PLAN to build SOME of the ships ourselves, eventually!'

That's the equivalent of saying:

'Yes, right now I shite in an old paint can, but I PLAN to install a toilet in a few years'
- And the person responding by nodding in acknowledgement, but thinking to themselves 'That's pretty doubtful'.

Btw, didn't we build some ships a while back and arm them with peashooters or something?

Hi ttbn,

"when he could have gone in the back way"...Archy Pell, he was always going in the back way!

Hi AC,

Well said, the last thing Australia can afford is a war with China, or anyone else for that matter. The magic 3% is a nonsense, it could be 33% it wouldn't make a scrap of difference, except to the American bottom line. As you say China doesn't need to "invade" Australia, they already control the Australian economy. Why would they want to upset the apple cart, they're doing very nicely for themselves as it is.

BTW China and Russia see Trump as a joke. He went there begging the Chinese to help him out with Iran and Ukraine. I'm sure Xi and Putin had a good laugh about that last week.

"Please explain this growing threat in as much detail as possible."

In 350 words?

In summary, Australia's entire way of life and economic model is utterly dependent on the primacy of the liberal (small 'l') model that currently governs the world system. We are utterly dependent on free-trade and the general rule of democracy. Its why we fought in wars apparently far removed from our shores such as Boer, WWI, Korea and Vietnam.

China threatens all that as it tries to overthrow the liberal world order to be replaced by a system where all states are subservient to the Middle Kingdom, where governments are owned and controlled by Peking and where trade is no longer free but is regulated to the advantage of the CCP and its leadership. A small example of that is how the CCP treated its vassal states like Venezuela where the wealth of the nation was appropriated by the Chinese even as the leadership was required to bend the knee to Peking. And that was the best case scenario. Witness how they treat other vassal states like Xinjiang.

It is the duty of all freedom loving states to oppose this attempt at re-structuring the world order to their disadvantage and those states are now realising it and responding to the efforts from the Trump White House to galvanise the free world. Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Indonesia, India, most of south and central America, and now Australia are responding.

And the results are already apparent as China is chased out of the Americas, humiliated in Iran, and challenged in the so-called South China Sea

You chaps go on as though a war means two blokes taking pot-shots at each other from bunkers. But the 21st century isn't the 19th century. The war against China will be fought in the Malacca Straits and the Taiwan Straits and the various supply routes into China. You talk about how Australia is dependent on Chinese trade and its true to an extent. But to a much greater extent, China is reliant on overseas trade for oil, coal, iron ore, food and advanced chips just to name a few. That's before we even talk about how much China relies on the west buying its manufactured stuff.

In a shooting war, the Malacca Straits would be first point of conflict and if it is closed, the Chinese economy would begin to unravel within two to three weeks. Hence the Australian build-up, the Indonesian treaties, the Indian support.

Trump has galvanised those states that are most threatened by the Chinese bid for world hegemony and its working. The Americas (except for Canada) is largely on board and China over the past 18 months has lost all influence in most of the New World.

"Some of them are sick of the U.S. as well, they doubt it's ability to protect them and wish they would leave but are too polite to say so."

There's not a shred of evidence for those ludicrous claims and you therefore offer none. Japan is responding to the US resurgence by re-militarising and joining things like the Quad. South Korea is partnering with the US to rebuild the western combined fleet. the Philippines is enthusiastically welcoming the US forces back into Luzon and Subic. etc etc. Its all passing you by because you don't want it to be true.

Just as the new Australian bid for regional naval hegemony is real.

Hardly any Japanese want a U.S. base in their neighborhood, online survey finds
http://japantoday.com/category/features/kuchikomi/hardly-any-japanese-want-a-u.s.-base-in-their-neighborhood-online-survey-finds

On Okinawa, many locals want U.S. troops to leave
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/okinawa-locals-want-u-s-troops-leave

They just dumped 50 billion in U.S treasuries a few days back.
http://youtu.be/zi9HW8H1N9U

"Trump has galvanised those states that are most threatened by the Chinese bid for world hegemony"
Threatened countries that they must sacrifice themselves for the dying U.S. more likely.

Nobody wants to hold U.S. debt anymore.
They see China as a more reliable place to put their wealth.

Have you seen Trumps polling numbers?
He's lower than Biden, lower than dog shite.
You're on the Titanic mhaze.
Total loser and traitor to his country as well.
Some already say 'the worst U.S. President ever'.

"They just dumped 50 billion in U.S treasuries a few days back."

They (Japan) reduced their holding from US$1.2 trillion to US$1.15 trillion. Hardly something to panic about. And it was done to protect the Yen not to affect the US$. But you, as usual, believe all this unresearched gumph from the people who feed you misinformation on a daily basis.

And it might be true that some Japanese people don't want bases nearby. Come back and tell me when the Japanese government says they don't want bases. Until then its just more rubbish that you've fallen for.

"Nobody wants to hold U.S. debt anymore."

Japan holds US$1.2 trillion.
China hold US$ 670 billion.
Other foreign holders .... US$ 7 trillion.

Nobody wants to hold US debt? Is that what your sources told you to believe. Perhaps you should stop believing them and start checking for yourself.

Meanwhile, I note that you aren't disputing that Trump chased China out of the Americas. Or that China was helpless to help Venezuela. Or that most of China's neighbours are signing treaties with the US to galvanise opposition to China's expansionism.

It's a pity that threads are so quickly hijacked by trolls and wackjobs who get all their information from other wackjobs on Google; with much of the information having FA to with the topic.

While the wackjobs amuse themselves, I hope that mhaze's hopeful (it's hard not to be cynical about Australia's ability in defence, given its history) new navy materialises before it's too late.

In the meantime, I wish people who really know better would stop encouraging wackjobs who's ravings indicate that they are unlikely to be capable of walking and chewing gum at the same time.

Hi mhaze,

"And it might be true that some Japanese people don't want bases nearby."
- It is true, not might be.

"Come back and tell me when the Japanese government says they don't want bases. Until then its just more rubbish that you've fallen for."
- Come back and tell me when the Australian government says they don't want more immigrants. Until then it's just more rubbish that you've fallen for, lol.

Anytime you mention immigrants from now on I'll dismiss you.
Obviously it's not the governments policy, right?

Your brain farts make you a danger to yourself mhaze.
You just love stepping in your own piles of crap, don't you.

You try to win arguments but you forget what you said elsewhere 5 minutes ago, it's kinda stupid you know.
I'm not sure you have any solid grounding in ethics or principles.
Which means that its really just random brain farts attempting to have the final say.

Quite the tantrum AC. Complete with scatological references no less which is what your 'thinking' is reduced to.

As to immigration, (which I didn't mention in this thread but we're used to seeing AC getting confused) I didn't say it was Australian government policy, just that it should be, whereas you falsely asserted that an opinion poll in a small part of Japan represented Japanese government policy. See the difference? I assume not.

I can't help but note and notice that as soon as the facts about US government debt are presented, you run a mile. Pretty standard.

I find it inexcusable for ships & other vital equipment not being manufactured here. Is the quest for profit overriding all sense & throws concern for future generations into the wind ? Replace competent workers with vote offering future enemies draining the coffers simply for momentary profit ?
That's not managing, that's criminal neglect of duty !

I see the American's let off the worlds biggest firecracker yesterday. It looked like a mini A-bomb going off, $2.5 billion up in smoke. Nothing like good old American ingenuity and know-how!

I note that GWM (Great Wall Motor) are having an end of financial year run out sale. Australia could pick up a fully registered, no more to pay, on sea, Chinese Nuk Sub, the 'Dim-Sim' model for a measly $750 million, less with trade, flog our old 1962 Collins coal fired job for 500 bucks, the Chinese will send it to the Indian 'wreckers' or recycle parts for $10 'ANCO' brand toasters for K-mart.

The Yanks are going to charge us a $100 billion each for their's, and they don't even come with a CD player! How shocking is that!

“I find it inexcusable for ships & other vital equipment not being manufactured here”.

The reason why ships, and most things we need, are not built in Australia, is the Albanese Socialist government who, given an enormous majority a year ago, despite their appalling first three years, do not care whether you excuse them or not.

They prefer to import everything, including people who are easier to handle under their authoritarian elected dictatorship.