Built 1974–1988 | Builders Brest arsenal Preceded by Tourville class | |
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Succeeded by Aquitaine class (anti-submarine variant) | ||
The Georges Leygues class (Type F70 AS) is a class of anti-submarine destroyers of the French Navy. They are multi-role ships due to their Exocet and Crotale missile armament, making them especially suitable for the defence of strategic positions, show of force operations, or as high seas escorts. The F70 is internationally labelled an "anti-submarine destroyer" (hence the "D" in the hull numbers), though the French do not use the term and refer to the ships as "frigates".
Design
The superstructures were built to optimise resistance to the blast from nuclear explosions. The last three ships of the class had their bridges raised one deck to overcome problems experienced by the first four in bad weather, as well as being equipped with DSBV 61 passive linear towed array sonar and several other upgraded systems.