Defence News

Hippy Chippy · **Posted:** Tue Mar 24, 2026 10:16 am

In case you missed it, last weekend also saw the bi-annual RAN Fleet Review, :captain:

this time to celebrate the :salute1:

RAN's 125th (?) Anniversary... $\:D/$

There's a heap of clips covering various aspects of events on YouTube, this one will serve as an entree... :type:

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_ ... eview+2026

Hippy Chippy · **Posted:** Tue Mar 24, 2026 10:34 am

Meet the RAN's new $6.5 billion purchase of 11 Japanese (and eventually Australian) built Mogami Frigates..! :type:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zm5_mvbkuUE

12 Mar 2026... For the last two decades, the Western defense industrial base has been suffocating under the weight of its own bureaucracy.

Shrinking shipyards, glacial procurement timelines, and massive cost blowouts have left the free world struggling to field surface combatants fast enough to counter the explosive growth of the Chinese Navy.

But in a historic, geopolitical earthquake, the Australian government just bypassed the entire Western bottleneck. By dropping $6.5 billion to acquire 11 "Upgraded Mogami-class" frigates from Japan for the SEA 3000 program,

Australia has tapped directly into the roaring furnaces of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.

This is not just a hardware procurement; it is a strategic fusion. It marks the very first time since the Second World War that Japan has exported a major, lethal weapon system, proving that the two most capable democracies in the Indo-Pacific are physically hardwiring their naval survival together.

:evil3:

Read the impressive specs on the RAN Website here: :type:

https://www.navy.gov.au/capabilities/sh ... se-frigate

Seejay · **Posted:** Wed Mar 25, 2026 7:27 am

They do look impressive. Wonder what USV; UUV; and VDS/TASS stands for?

Hippy Chippy · **Posted:** Wed Mar 25, 2026 8:20 am

Dunno, SeeJay, :-k

I suspect its covered in the specs, under :happy1:

"Combat Systems: Classified"... :captain:

Specifications
Type: Upgraded Mogami-class frigate
Roles: Anti-submarine warfare, self defence, land and maritime strike, force protection
Builder: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
Displacement: 6,200 tonnes
Length: 142 metres
Beam: 17 metres
Propulsion: Combined Diesel and Gas
Speed: 30+ knots / 56+ km/h
Range: 10,000 nautical miles
Combat system: Classified
Weapons: 32-Cell Vertical Launch System, Surface to Air Missiles, Anti-ship Missiles, 1x5 inch Main Gun, 1 x Short-range Point Defence System
Sensors: Towed Array Sonar, Active Electronically Scanned Array Radar, Electronic Countermeasures, Advanced Tactical Data Links
Aircraft: 1 x Maritime Combat Helicopter
Company: 90 with accommodation up to 138

Graeme Rhodes · **Posted:** Wed Mar 25, 2026 10:21 am

Dare I say common sense is starting to prevail?
(Oops, I said it anyway.)

BC · **Posted:** Wed Mar 25, 2026 10:33 am

Did anyone else notice that the commentary about the Indonesian ship ....... why was it flying the Malaysian flag?

And one of the Aussie and NZ ships had rust stains on the ship sides. Maybe it's no longer duties for ship companies to touch-up ship's sides any more!!

Even the PNG's had their PB spick and span.

Stroppy Chippie · **Posted:** Wed Mar 25, 2026 10:20 pm

Googled:
UUV (Unmanned Underwater Vehicle): Specifically, the OZZ-5 AUV (Autonomous Underwater Vehicle). It is a 4-meter-long, 950kg drone designed to detect and classify underwater mines using high-frequency and low-frequency sonar (SAMDIS).
USV (Unmanned Surface Vehicle): An 11-meter, 23-knot vessel (like the "Umikaze") that works in tandem with the UUV. It acts as a data relay hub, receiving real-time sonar data from the OZZ-5 UUV while towing minesweeping gear (to mimic magnetic/sound signatures) or deploying Expendable Mine Disposal (EMD) charges to destroy mines.
VDS/TASS (Variable Depth Sonar / Towed Array Sonar System): Specifically, the OQQ-25 sonar suite. This is used for Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW).
VDS is a sonar that can be lowered below the thermocline (a layer of water that confuses sonar) to detect submarines.
TASS is a long, towed cable with sensors that listens for submarine noises

Seejay · **Posted:** Thu Mar 26, 2026 11:14 pm

Thanks Rick, Brian and Peanut.

In answer to some of your questions regarding rust. Some years - nay, decades back - some dimwit in navy office decided that ship's crews wouldn't have time to do ships husbandry tasks like corrosion control and painting due to minimum manning. Said dimwit also decided that that task would be handed over to contractors, ergo it would be programmed to be carried out during maintenance periods. And the results stand before you... :faaaarrk:

It was put forward that the ships could use products like Rust Rinse (a liquid containg a weak solution of phosphoric acid) to remove the rust staining to restore a clean surface (as we all know, a little bit of rust generates a LOT of staining) but the dimwits went ballistic about adding a hazardous product onto RAN ships, ignoring that it had been carrying it for 80 or 90 years already to kill rust priot to painitng - it's in ABR 19. Or was. So our ships look like jap long-line fishing scows most of the time.

As for the PNG and other island patrol boats that attended, they've recently completed maintenance in Cairns.

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