[4] However, on 25 January 2023, the Defense Acquisition Agency announced the "Guidelines for soliciting participants for the 'Planning and Proposal Contract for New FFMs'", and construction from fiscal year 2024 onwards would switch to the new ships.

[5][6] On 31 March of the same year, Japan Marine United and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries completed the planning contract.

The government, having received proposals from each company on 15 June, decided on 25 August the procurement partner for the class,[7] with MHI being the main supplier, while the JMU would be the subcontractor.

[11] The Acquisition, Technology & Logistics Agency and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries displayed a model of the new surface combat ship "FFM-AAW" at the Indo Pacific 2023 maritime defense exhibition held at the International Convention Centre in Sydney, Australia from 7 to 9 November 2023.

reported that the government considered participating in a bidding process for new ships planned for introduction by the Royal Australian Navy, with joint development based on the FFM-type destroyer being envisioned.

It would be unusual for a highly capable frigate model to be exported, although it is possible that it will compete with other nations' ships such as those mentioned above, and it is unclear whether the order will be received.

[17] On 8 November 2024, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported that the candidate co-development countries had been narrowed down to Japan (i.e., FFM-AAW) and Germany, and that $11 billion AUD (equivalent to 1.12 trillion Japanese yen) will be invested within over 10 years.