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French battleship From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
La Fayette is a general purpose stealth frigate of the French Navy (Marine Nationale).[11] She is the second French vessel named after the 18th century general Marquis de Lafayette. She is the lead ship of the class.[12]
History | |
---|---|
France | |
Name | La Fayette |
Namesake | Marquis de Lafayette |
Laid down | 15 December 1990 |
Launched | 13 June 1992 |
Commissioned | 22 March 1996 |
Homeport | Toulon |
Status | in active service |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | La Fayette-class frigate |
Displacement | |
Length | 125 m (410 ft 1 in) |
Beam | 15.4 m (50 ft 6 in) |
Draught | 4.8 m (15 ft 9 in) |
Propulsion | 4 × SEMT Pielstick 12PA6V280 STC2 diesel engines, 21,000 hp (16,000 kW) |
Speed | 25 knots (46 km/h; 29 mph) |
Range | 7,000 nmi (13,000 km; 8,100 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) |
Complement | 170+;[2][3]197 reported embarked for 2023 global deployment[4] |
Sensors and processing systems |
|
Electronic warfare & decoys |
|
Armament |
|
Armour | On sensitive areas (munition magazine and control centre) |
Aircraft carried | 1 × helicopter (Panther or NH90) |
La Fayette began a major life extension upgrade in October 2021. The upgrade is designed to permit the frigate to operate through the 2020s and into the 2030s and incorporates the addition of hull-mounted sonar, improved point air defence systems, the CANTO anti-torpedo countermeasures system, as well as the capacity to deploy the latest variant of the Exocet anti-ship missile.[13][5] The frigate returned to sea for testing of her new systems in May 2022 and was declared fully operational again in November 2022.[14] She is to remain active until 2031.[15][16]
In February 2023, the frigate was tasked to initiate an around the world deployment accompanying the helicopter assault ship Dixmude. The deployment was to involve a series of exercises and port calls enroute. According to the commander of the mission, Captain Emmanuel Mocard, La Fayette possesses improved sea-keeping and endurance following her upgrade and the scope of the planned deployment would not have been feasible prior to her refit.[17] The frigate returned to Toulon in July.[18]
In 2024, La Fayette deployed to the Atlantic to fill a gap resulting from the retirement of the patrol vessel Premier-Maître L'Her and a delay in the commissioning of the new frigate Amiral Ronarc'h.[19]
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