A Japanese Ministry of Defence (MOD) official recently confirmed that the Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force's (JMSDF) Mogami-class stealth frigates have begun undergoing installation of vertical launch systems (VLS) to expand their anti-submarine warfare (ASW) capability.
The seventh and all later frigates in the class will have VLS already installed by the time they are commissioned into service, whereas the first six ships are fitted for but not with (FFBNW) VLS and will instead have these incorporated during their respective periodic maintenance.
Each VLS installation will consist of 16 cells that can house and launch anti-submarine rockets (ASROCs). The system will be mounted forward of the superstructure but aft of the main gun.
The VLS for the Mogami-class will be manufactured under licence by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. The system can be modified to house surface-to-air missiles, though the MOD has not disclosed details of the weapons to be employed.
The Mogami-class frigates were developed in response to the JMSDF's need for multi-role surface combatants to replace the Asagiri-class destroyers and Abukuma-class destroyer escorts that were originally designed in the 1980s.
The newer frigates possess nearly similar capabilities as the Akizuki-class destroyers but with smaller crew complements and fewer missile launchers.