''La Fayette'' is a general purpose stealth

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...

of the

French Navy The French Navy (french: Marine nationale, lit=National Navy), informally , is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the five military service branches of France. It is among the largest and most powerful naval forces in t ...

(''Marine Nationale''). She is the second French vessel named after the 18th century general Marquis de Lafayette. She is the lead ship of the

class Class or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differentl ...

Upgrade

''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. The frigate returned to sea for testing of her new systems in May 2022 and was declared fully operational again in November 2022. She is to remain active until 2031.

Career Post-Upgrade

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.

Gallery

File:FS_La_Fayette_1.jpg File:FS_La_Fayette_2.jpg File:FS_La_Fayette_3.jpg File:FS_La_Fayette_4.jpg File:FS_La_Fayette_5.jpg File:French frigate La Fayette (F-710).jpg

In popular culture

* ''La Fayette'' was featured in the 1995

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...

film '' GoldenEye'', as the site for the unveiling of the

Eurocopter Tiger The Eurocopter Tiger is a four-blade, twin-engine attack helicopter which first entered service in 2003. It is manufactured by Airbus Helicopters (formerly Eurocopter), which arose from the merger of Aérospatiale's and DASA's respective he ...

, which is subsequently stolen in the film. The 1997 video game based on the movie, '' GoldenEye 007'', released for the Nintendo 64, includes a hostage rescue mission on board ''La Fayette''. This mission was reimagined for the game's 2010 remake, developed for the

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and

Nintendo DS The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens working in tan ...

consoles, as well as its own 2011 remaster, '' GoldenEye 007: Reloaded'', available for the

PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. The successor to the PlayStation 2, it is part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. It was first released on Novemb ...

and

Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox series. It competed with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation ...

platforms.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:La Fayette La Fayette-class frigates Frigates of France 1992 ships Ships built in France