# U.S. Navy weighs buying Japanese and South Korean warships to speed up fleet expansion

*Wednesday, September 16, 2026 at 2:05 PM UTC — Hamer Intelligence Services Desk*

**Published**: 2026-09-16T14:05:56.754Z (2h ago)
**Category**: geopolitics | **Region**: East Asia
**Importance**: 8/10
**Sources**: OSINT
**Permalink**: https://hamerintel.com/data/articles/18006.md
**Source**: https://hamerintel.com/summaries

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**Deck**: The U.S. Navy is considering warships built in Japan and South Korea, including Japan’s Mogami‑class frigates, as it looks for ways to expand its fleet more quickly while it works to rebuild domestic shipbuilding capacity, Nikkei Asia reports.

U.S. naval planners are looking at an option they have long avoided: sourcing major warships from foreign allies to grow the fleet faster than American shipyards can manage on their own.

According to Nikkei Asia, the U.S. Navy is considering buying warships from Japan and South Korea as part of an effort to expand its fleet quickly and counter China’s naval buildup. One of the options under review is Japan’s Mogami‑class frigate, alongside South Korean-built vessels.

The interest in allied designs reflects a gap between U.S. ambitions at sea and what domestic yards can currently deliver. Buying ships already in serial production abroad could shorten timelines and provide proven platforms while Washington works to strengthen its own industrial base.

Japan and South Korea both have advanced shipbuilding industries and close security ties with the United States, which makes them natural candidates for such a move. For them, potential U.S. orders would validate their naval designs and bring in additional work for their yards.

The idea is still at the stage of consideration, not a finalized program. Signals to watch include any formal U.S. Navy studies or requests related to specific foreign-built classes, public statements from Tokyo and Seoul on their willingness to sell, and debates in Washington over how buying from allied yards would interact with efforts to revive American shipbuilding.