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 frigate contract, expected to be signed by the end of

the year, will be the biggest Australian defence purchase since

the government agreed to build nuclear-powered submarines with

the United States and Britain in 2023, and one of Japan's

biggest defence export deals.

"Its going to be really important in terms of giving our

navy the capability to project, and impactful projection is at

the heart of the strategic challenge," Marles said, adding it

was "a very significant moment in the bilateral relationship

between Australia and Japan".

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.

The upgraded Mogami-class frigate was capable of launching

long-range missiles, and had a range of up to 10,000 nautical

miles, compared to Australia's current Anzac Class frigates,

which had a range of around 6,000 nautical miles, Marles said.

It also operated with a smaller crew than the Anzac class.

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.

The first frigate is expected to be delivered in 2029.

($1 = 1.5456 Australian dollars)