Australia said Tuesday it accepted a Japanese company's bid for a lucrative and hotly contested contract to build Australian warships, expected to be worth 10 billion Australian dollars ($6.5 billion).

The Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Group announced Tuesday that the Australian government has chosen it to build a new fleet of warships for the nation's navy.

Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries will deliver the first of Australia's new navy frigates under a A$10 billion ($6.5 billion) deal, Australian Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said on Tuesday. T