File Image: Japanese warship the JS Yahagi, a Mogami-class stealth frigate from Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Force, is docked in Darwin, Australia, on June 6, 2025. (Kyodo News via AP)
Japan’s offer of its top-of-the-line Mogami class frigates is part of Tokyo’s efforts to have closer defence ties with New Delhi. Japan, highly-placed officials said, “have offered the design of the frigate to India. The warship can be made here, in an Indian shipyard, with the Japanese providing some of the material.” The first Mogami class frigate joined the Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force only in 2022, and these 4,000+ ton frigates, each one costing roughly $500 million, are armed with anti-ship and anti-aircraft missiles and torpedoes.
