SYDNEY, Aug 5 (Reuters) - Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy

Industries ( MHVYF ) will deliver Australia's new A$10 billion

($6.5 billion) navy frigate programme, Australian Deputy Prime

Minister Richard Marles said on Tuesday.

The deal underscored Canberra's "focus on investing in the

capabilities we need now and into the future, to meet

Australia's strategic circumstances", he said.

The frigate contract is the biggest Australian defence

purchase since the government agreed to build nuclear-powered

submarines with the United States and Britain in 2023.

MHI's Mogami frigate was selected over German company

Thyssen­Krupp Marine Systems' MEKO A-200 in a meeting of the

government's national security committee on Monday.

Marles told reporters that while the MEKO-class frigate was

"very impressive", the Mogami-class frigate was "the best

frigate for Australia".

The upgraded Mogami-class frigate has a range of up to

10,000 nautical miles, compared to Australia's current Anzac

Class frigates, which have a range of around 6,000 nautical

miles, Marles said.

The government said in 2024 it would spend up to A$10

billion for the general-purpose frigates to replace the Anzac

Class. They will be equipped for undersea warfare and air

defence to secure maritime trade routes and Australia's northern

approaches.

It says the first three general-purpose frigates will be

built offshore, with the remainder built in Western Australia.

($1 = 1.5456 Australian dollars)