Australia has signed for three Japanese-design frigates that Mitsubishi Heavy Industries will build in Nagasaki. The remaining hulls are intended for Henderson, in Western Australia, if the Henderson Defence Precinct consolidates. Austal’s present work there is patrol boats and landing craft. The industrial question is whether that yard can move from those programmes to building a Japanese-designed frigate.
What happened
On 18 April 2026, Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles and Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy said contracts had been signed for Australia’s first three general purpose frigates. The ships are an upgraded version of the Mogami class, to be built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. The first is scheduled for delivery to the Royal Australian Navy in 2029.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries said the same day that the contract covers three upgraded Mogami-class ships of about 4,800 tonnes for Australia’s General Purpose Frigate programme. Construction starts at Nagasaki Shipyard & Machinery Works. The first completed frigate is to be handed over by December 2029.
Conroy also set out the industrial split in that April release. The first three frigates will be built offshore in Japan. Australia will then transition to an onshore build. Future ships are to be constructed in Western Australia, subject to consolidation of the Henderson Defence Precinct. The same split was set out in the 5 August 2025 selection announcement: the first three in Japan, first delivery in 2029, first ship operational in 2030, and subsequent ships built locally if the precinct consolidates.
On 26 August 2026, the Australian and Western Australian governments confirmed the Henderson Defence Precinct site at the Australian Marine Complex Common User Facility. At Henderson, Austal is currently building six Evolved Cape-class patrol boats for the Australian Border Force. Construction of 18 Landing Craft Medium and eight 100-metre Landing Craft Heavy is also commencing.
Chief Executive Paddy Gregg said those landing-craft programmes are the foundation for growing the workforce, capability and supply chain needed to deliver more complex vessels, such as the Mogami-class frigates, in Western Australia.
On 27 August, Austal said it would hire 500 blue- and white-collar workers over 12 months as it begins the landing-craft programmes. The company currently employs more than 1,000 people across Australia.
What it means
The April contracts cover three hulls. The Australian build is a future commitment, conditional on Henderson consolidation. That makes the first three ships a procurement decision; the ships after them are an industrial-capacity test. A Japanese design becomes Australian industrial work only when the precinct and workforce exist to build it. In 2026, Henderson is still proving the programmes intended to get it there.
The hard part sits at the yard, because the onshore remainder depends on precinct consolidation. Austal’s 2026 proof is patrol boats and landing craft. The ministers said Western Australian defence investment over two decades, including future Mogami builds at Henderson, would support around 10,000 high-skilled jobs. That is a two-decade estimate for Western Australian defence investment, not a Mogami workforce forecast. Austal’s immediate plan is to hire 500 people for the landing-craft programmes. Its present Australian workforce is more than 1,000.
The 2026 Integrated Investment Program commits up to AUD 20 billion over the decade to the General Purpose Frigate programme. That is a programme envelope, not the price of the three ships: Defence and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries have not published the contract value.
Two industrial jobs now run on different clocks. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in Nagasaki is working towards a first handover by December 2029. Perth has been named for the rest. A first-plate date for an Australian Mogami has not been disclosed.
Japan can build the first three. The test is whether Henderson can build the fourth.
What to watch
• Henderson consolidation. Whether the precinct condition attached to the Australian build is completed. If it slips, the remaining ships stay a conditional Australian-build proposition.
• Yard capability. Whether Austal’s landing-craft programmes and 500 planned hires lead to a disclosed Mogami production start, rather than remaining preparation for a more complex vessel.
• Nagasaki delivery. Whether Mitsubishi Heavy Industries hands over the first frigate by December 2029, while Defence's 2029 delivery and 2030 operational targets remain intact.
