The General Purpose Frigate: An Opportunity for Japan and Australia

As naval competition picks up in the Indo-Pacific, Australia has launched several initiatives to modernize and expand the Royal Australian Navy (RAN)’s maritime capacities. Complementing the oft-covered trilateral AUKUS deal are several upgrade projects to the country’s surface fleet. The workhorses of the Australian surface fleet, the ANZAC-class frigates, have served with distinction for almost thirty years but are in dire need of replacement....