The
Georges Leygues-class ships were designed as
anti-submarine (ASW) escorts for the fleet. They had an
overall length of , a
beam of and a
draught of . The ships had a
standard displacement of and at
full load. Based on experience with the earlier ships in the
class,
La Motte-Picquet had her bridge (nautical) raised one level and of
ballast was added to improve her
stability. The
Georges Leyguess' propulsion machinery used a
CODOG configuration with one
SEMT-Pielstick 16PA6-V280
diesel engine and a
Rolls-Royce Olympus TM3B gas turbine were coupled to each of the two
propeller shafts. The diesels were used for speeds under and the gas turbines for sprints up to . The diesels were rated at a total of and the turbines at a total of . The combination give the ships a range of at . The frigates had a complement of 216 sailors. The primary anti-ship weapon of the
Georges Leyguess consisted of four single box launchers for MM40
Exocet anti-ship missiles, located aft of the
funnel with two launchers on each
broadside. The frigates were designed with a single
Modèle 1968 dual-purpose gun in a single-
gun turret forward of the
superstructure. They were also equipped with two guns. The ships were fitted with a octuple
Crotale anti-aircraft missile launcher with 26 reloads located on the aft superstructure. The
anti-submarine| (ASW) weapons of the
Georges Leygues-class ships consisted of two
torpedo launchers , one on each side of the ship. Each ship carried ten torpedoes. The ships were designed to carry helicopters, a pair of
Westland Lynx ASW helicopters in a double
hangar at the stern. They were completed with a DRBV 51C
search radar, a DRBC 32E
fire-control radar and a DRBV 26
early-warning radar. For anti-submarine warfare, they were equipped with a DUBV 23B hull-mounted
sonar and DUBV 43B towed
variable depth sonar. For electronic defence, the vessels mounted two Syllex
chaff launchers. The SENIT 4 tactical data system coordinated sensor data. ==Construction and career==