Japan Commissions 10th Mogami-Class Frigate, JS Nagara

The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) has officially commissioned its 10th Mogami-class frigate, JS Nagara, into active service following a commissioning and flag-raising ceremony.

The JMSDF announced the milestone in an official statement.

The ceremony took place on June 29, 2026, at the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries shipyard in Nagasaki, where the vessel was formally accepted into the fleet.

After entering service with the fleet, the frigate JS Nagara will join the 2nd Patrol Division at the Kure Naval Base in Hiroshima Prefecture.

The frigate is 133 meters long and 16.3 meters wide. One of its key features is its high level of automation, which allows the ship to be operated by a crew of approximately 90 personnel.

In addition, when the ship is commissioned into the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, it will be equipped with the Mk.41 Vertical Launching System (VLS). Previously, shipbuilders installed this system on earlier vessels only after they had entered fleet service.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the global semiconductor shortage caused delays, as Mitsubishi Heavy Industries manufactures these systems under license in Japan.

Manufacturers are limiting the pace of deliveries; however, under existing contracts, the Japan Ministry of Defense has ordered 12 Mk 41 Vertical Launching Systems (VLS). These launchers will be installed on both newly built ships and vessels that previously entered service without them.

The ship was built in a remarkably short time. Construction of the frigate JS Nagara began on July 6, 2023, when its keel was laid at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’ shipyard in Nagasaki.

The ship was launched on December 19, 2024, and commissioned into the fleet on June 29, 2026. The entire construction cycle, from the start of work to entry into service, took approximately three years.

Militarnyi previously reported that on December 22, 2025, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries held the official naming and launching ceremony at its Nagasaki shipyard for the last of the 12 Mogami-class frigates, JS Yoshii.

Construction of the Mogami-class frigates began in 2019 as part of a program to replace the Hayabusa-class missile boats and Abukuma-class escort destroyers. To accelerate production, the shipbuilder adopted a strategy of constructing two hulls simultaneously.

In 2019, the company laid down the first two ships of the class – Mogami and Kumano – on October 29 and October 30, respectively.

The launch schedule varied slightly. The second frigate, Kumano, was launched by the shipbuilders on November 19, 2020, while the lead ship, Mogami, was launched on March 3, 2021.

The delay was caused by damage to the Rolls-Royce MT30 gas turbine during bench testing: the turbine suffered technical damage due to interaction with a faulty component of the test rig. As a result, the launch of the lead ship took place four months later than that of Kumano.

After this incident, the construction of the subsequent ten frigates proceeded without interruption. It is worth noting that this program is the largest shipbuilding series in Japan since the end of World War II.