New Zealand aims to decide before the end of next year whether to acquire Japan’s upgraded Mogami-class warships to replace its aging frigates, Defense Minister Chris Penk told The Japan Times on Friday, highlighting interoperability with Australia as a factor in the deliberations.

“We are conducting due diligence to get to a point that, in about 12 months or perhaps a bit longer, the New Zealand government would be in a position to make a choice between the two down-selected options: Japan’s Mogami class or the U.K.’s Type 31 frigate,” Penk said in an exclusive interview.

Speaking on the margins of the IISS Shangri-La Dialogue security forum in Singapore, the minister said the New Zealand Navy’s two Anzac-class frigates — both commissioned in the late 1990s — are expected to reach the end of their operational lives in the mid-2030s.

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