Japan is selling top-of-the-line warships to another key US ally. What that means for the highly contested Pacific

Australia last week announced a $6.5 billion deal to buy advanced warships from Japan, a move that can go a long way to making Canberra a Pacific maritime power and Tokyo a major weapons exporter, analysts say.

The Australian Defense Ministry said it will buy 11 of Japan’s Mogami-class frigates, stealthy, state-of-the-art surface combatants that analysts say are equal to – or in some repects better than – anything China or even the United States is putting in the water.

Announcing the deal with its fellow member of the the US-led Quad defense group, Australia’s Minister for Defense Industry Pat Conroy called it “another step towards delivering a much larger and more lethal navy, with stealth frigates that will reassure our allies and deter our adversaries.”

Australia’s main security con