SYDNEY, April 18 (Reuters) - Australia and Japan signed

contracts on Saturday launching their landmark A$10 billion ($7

billion) deal to supply Australia with warships, Tokyo's most

consequential military sale since ending a military export ban

in 2014.

Defence Ministers Richard Marles and Shinjiro Koizumi signed

a memorandum "reaffirming the Australian and Japanese

governments' shared commitment to the successful delivery" of

the warships, Marles said in a statement.

The deal struck in August anchors Japan's push away from its

postwar pacifism to forge security ties beyond its alliance with

the U.S. to counter China.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries ( MHVYF ) is to supply the Royal

Australian Navy with three upgraded Mogami-class multi-role

frigates built in Japan from 2029. Eight more frigates will be

built in Australia.

Japan's Defence Ministry posted on X that Koizumi and Marles

welcomed the "conclusion of contracts for General Purpose

Frigates, and confirmed to further strengthen bilateral defense

ties" in the signing in Melbourne.

Contracts were signed for the first three frigates, to be

built in Japan, before there is a "transition to an onshore

build" at the Henderson shipyard near Perth in Western

Australia, Marles said.

Australia plans to deploy the ships - designed to hunt

submarines, strike surface ships and provide air defence - to

defend critical maritime trade routes and its northern

approaches in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, where China's

military footprint is expanding.

($1 = 1.3955 Australian dollars)