French frigate La Fayette explained

La Fayette is a general purpose stealth frigate of the French Navy (Marine Nationale).^[1] She is the second French vessel named after the 18th century general Marquis de Lafayette. She is the lead ship of the class.^[2]

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.^{[3] [4]} The frigate returned to sea for testing of her new systems in May 2022 and was declared fully operational again in November 2022.^[5] She is to remain active until 2031.^{[6] [7]}

Career Post-Upgrade

In February 2023, the frigate was tasked to initiate an around the world deployment accompanying the helicopter assault ship . 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.^[8] The frigate returned to Toulon in July.^[9]

In 2024, La Fayette deployed to the Atlantic to fill a gap resulting from the retirement of the patrol vessel and a delay in the commissioning of the new frigate .^[10]

In popular culture

• La Fayette was featured in the 1995 James Bond film GoldenEye, as the site for the unveiling of the Eurocopter Tiger, which is subsequently stolen in the film.^[11] 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 Wii and Nintendo DS consoles, as well as its own 2011 remaster, GoldenEye 007: Reloaded, available for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 platforms.

Notes and References

1. Book: Lavers, Christopher . Reeds Vol 14: Stealth Warship Technology . Reeds Marine Engineering and Technology Series . 2012 . Thomas Reed Publications . 134 . 9781408175538.
2. Web site: FS La Fayette (F710) Light Stealth Frigate Warship (1996) . MilitaryFactory.com . 20 January 2017.
3. Web site: Video: French Navy's La Fayette-Class Frigate Mid-Life Update . Naval News . Manaranche . Martin . 31 July 2021 . 28 August 2021.
4. Web site: First Upgraded la Fayette-class Frigate back into the French Fleet . Naval News . Vavasseur . Xavier . 18 October 2021.
5. Web site: Toulon : Mise en service opérationnel de la frégate La Fayette rénovée . Press Agence . fr . 24 November 2022 . 29 November 2022.
6. Web site: Rénovée, la frégate la Fayette reprend la mer . Mer et Marine . fr . 19 May 2022 .
7. Web site: Marine nationale : les programmes qui vont façonner la future flotte française . 1 February 2021. Mer et Marine . fr.
8. Web site: French Mission Jeanne D'Arc 2023 To Sail Across Indo-Pacific . 3 February 2023. Naval News . Vavasseur . Xavier.
9. Web site: Jeanne d’Arc : le PHA Dixmude et la frégate La Fayette sont rentrés à Toulon . 17 July 2023. Mer et Marine . Groizeleau . Vincent.
10. Web site: La frégate La Fayette fera une première mission en Atlantique cet été . fr . Tanguy . Jean-Marc . le Marin . 11 July 2024 . 20 July 2024.
11. Book: Rayner, Jonathan . The Naval War Film: Genre, History and National Cinema . 2013 . Manchester University Press . 9781847796257.