SYDNEY/TOKYO (Reuters) -Japan clinched a landmark A$10 billion ($6.5 billion) deal on Tuesday to build warships for Australia, marking Tokyo's most consequential defence sale since ending a military export ban in 2014 as it steps away from postwar pacifism to counter China.

Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries won a multi-billion dollar deal to build a fleet of advanced naval frigates for Australia, boosting Tokyo’s ambitions to become a major exporter of military equipment and develop its defense sector.

Australia says it has accepted a Japanese company's bid for a lucrative and hotly contested contract to build Australian naval vessels, expected to be worth 10 billion Australian dollars ($6.5 billion