La Fayette is a general purpose stealth frigate of the French Navy (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.

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 FRENCH 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. The frigate returned to Toulon in July. In 2024, La Fayette deployed to the Atlantic to fill a gap resulting from the retirement of the patrol vessel FRENCH AVISO Premier-Maître L'Her and a delay in the commissioning of the new frigate FRENCH FRIGATE Amiral Ronarc'h.

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In popular culture