Lockheed Martin Offers Japan Its First Look at the Future Aegis System Equipped Vessels

For the first time, Lockheed Martin has showcased a scale model of Japan’s future Aegis System Equipped Vessels (ASEV), which are on order for the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF).

Displayed at the DSEI Japan 2025 exhibition – the country’s largest-ever defense trade show, which was held in Chiba Prefecture adjoining Tokyo from May 21 to 23 – the model revealed the new design with great detail about the ship’s final configuration, including the positions of various radars and antennas.

The Japanese government plans to build two ASEVs as an alternative to two land-based Aegis Ashore ballistic missile defense systems. Plans for Aegis Ashore were canceled in June 2020, during the Abe Shinzo administration, over concerns that falling components from missile interceptors might hit heavily populated areas in Japan.

The Ministry of Defense (MoD) in Tokyo plans to commission the first ship by the end of fiscal year 2027, with the second scheduled to be commissioned a year later. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) and Japan Marine United Corporation will build the first and second ASEVs respectively.

Lockheed, the world’s largest defense firm, will supply its new solid-state AN/SPY-7(V)1 radar system, or the SPY-7 radar in short, for the ASEVs.

At its booth at DSEI Japan, Lockheed unveiled the 1/96 scale model of the ASEV, which is still under development. It is true that in February, the U.S. company also displayed the model at the International Defense Exhibition (IDEX) 2025 in Abu Dhabi. But until now, only computer-generated drawings have been made public in Japan.

At first glance, a few features stand out on the model. Most notably, this is the first time a Japanese Aegis-equipped destroyer features radar panels mounted above the bridge, or the control center of a ship. This configuration is similar to the Spanish Navy’s next-generation F-110 Bonifaz class multi-mission frigate, which will also equip Lockheed’s AN/SPY-7(V)2 solid-state S-band radar. Japan may have followed Spain’s lead and decided to avoid technological adventures.

The design of placing the Aegis radars on top of the bridge is also similar to that of the Spanish Álvaro de Bazán (F100)-class air warfare destroyers and its derivative for the Royal Australian Navy, the Hobart class.

According to the Japanese MoD, each ASEV will be 190 meters long and 25 meters wide, with a standard displacement of 12,000 tons (the full load displacement could be around 16,000 tons).

In comparison, the Zumwalt-class destroyer of the United States Navy is 186 meters in length, 24.6 meters in width, and has an estimated full load displacement of 15,995 tons. Meanwhile, the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy’s Type 055 Renhai-class destroyer is 180 meters in length, 20 meters in width, and has an estimated full load displacement of 13,000 tons. The ASEV is also 1.7 times larger than the U.S. Navy’s latest Aegis ship, the Arleigh Burke Flight III, in tons.

All of this means that Japan’s ASEV would be larger than any other destroyer in the world.

On April 17, the MoD’s Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics Agency (ATLA) announced the 40-year lifecycle cost of the ASEV, which is estimated to run to about 1.9 trillion yen ($13.3 billion) in total for the two ships, or about 970 billion yen per ship. This is about 1.4 times the lifecycle cost of the JMSDF’s latest Maya-class destroyer.

However, on the following day, Defense Minister Nakatani Gen said at a press conference that the lifecycle cost of the ASEV is reasonable when compared with that of the Maya-class destroyer.

He pointed out that the ASEV is simply 1.5 times larger than the 170-meter Maya-class destroyer, and that it is equipped with the latest radar and vertical launchers with about 1.3 times the number of missiles.

The ASEV vessels will feature an impressive 128 Vertical Launch System (VLS) cells, while the Maya-class features 96 cells of Mk41 VLS.

In any case, the escalating cost of the new ships could give Tokyo a big headache in future.

In a related move, amid the DSEI Japan 2025 defense show, which attracted 471 exhibitors from 33 countries, Japanese tech company Fujitsu signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Lockheed Martin to produce power supply components of the SPY-7 radar for two ASEVs.

A source at Fujitsu told The Diplomat that the agreement was reached after the Japanese government had asked Lockheed to allow more Japanese companies to get involved into the SPY-7 system.