Uploaded April 2025 | Updated September 2026, 4 days ago
First Mogami-class FFM fitted with Mk 41 VLS emerges in Japan.
Japan has started installing the first Mk 41 vertical launching system (VLS) for a planned fleet of 12 Mogami-class multirole frigates (also known as FFM) for the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF).
New images provided to Naval News by local photographer and shipspotter たもたん (@Tamotaro) show Japanese shipbuilder Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) has installed the first 16-cell Mk 41 VLS on JS Niyodo (FFM-7), or the seventh ship of the Mogami-class, at the company’s Nagasaki Shipyard & Machinery Works in Nagasaki Prefecture. It has been placed on the deck in front of the bridge of the ship, as originally planned.
In the fiscal year 2021 supplementary budget, the Ministry of Defense in Tokyo earmarked 8.4 billion yen ($57 million) for the acquisition of its first two VLSs to be equipped with JS Niyodo and JS Yubetsu, the eighth ship of the Mogami-class.
First Mogami-class FFM fitted with Mk 41 VLS emerges in Japan.
Japan has started installing the first Mk 41 vertical launching system (VLS) for a planned fleet of 12 Mogami-class multirole frigates (also known as FFM) for the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF).
New images provided to Naval News by local photographer and shipspotter たもたん (@Tamotaro) show Japanese shipbuilder Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) has installed the first 16-cell Mk 41 VLS on JS Niyodo (FFM-7), or the seventh ship of the Mogami-class, at the company’s Nagasaki Shipyard & Machinery Works in Nagasaki Prefecture. It has been placed on the deck in front of the bridge of the ship, as originally planned.
In the fiscal year 2021 supplementary budget, the Ministry of Defense in Tokyo earmarked 8.4 billion yen ($57 million) for the acquisition of its first two VLSs to be equipped with JS Niyodo and JS Yubetsu, the eighth ship of the Mogami-class.
