RADM Hughes discusses Upgraded Mogami frigate for Australia

Rear Admiral Stephen Hughes, Head of Navy Capability for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), discusses the Upgraded Mogami frigate procurement from Japan during the Indo Pacific 2025 naval exhibition held in Sydney from 4-6 November. ===================== Hughes confirmed to Naval News that the Upgraded Mogami class in the RAN will not have Japanese weapons. Instead, they will be armed with the ESSM Block 2 air defence missile in its 32-cell Mk 41 VLS, plus deck-mounted Naval Strike Missiles (NSM). Also present will be MK 54 lightweight torpedoes and a SeaRAM. Hughes pointed out that these Australian frigates – which will comprise a class of 35 vessels when Australian and Japanese hulls are counted together – could “still be able to fire Japanese missiles and weapons if we want to,” although there is no current desire to do so. The RAN’s Upgraded Mogami frigates will otherwise boast Japanese systems and sensors, such as the combat management system, sonar and UNICORN mast. A Japanese spokesperson said the Upgraded Mogami features a modernised UNICORN that is 1m shorter at 8m. This is because the identification friend or foe antenna has been moved to the base of the antenna. Read more: ===================== For new videos every week, subscribe here! http://www.youtube.com/c/NavalNews?su... Follow us on Twitter:   / navalnewscom   Follow us on LinkedIn:   / navalnews   Like us on Facebook: http://fb.me/navalnewscom Check out our daily naval defense news coverage at: https://www.navalnews.com/ NAVAL NEWS is fully focused on naval topics. We cover the latest naval defense shows & events. We also report on naval technology from all over the world. Navalnews.com is updated daily with in-depth features, industry, and naval forces news round-ups, event coverage, video reports and more. Our top of the line site is responsive across all mobile and desktop devices.