La Motte-Picquet was one of seven F70 type guided-missile frigates built for the French Navy during the 1980s. Completed in 1988, she served during the Cold War. The ship was decommissioned in October 2020.
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.
In March 2016, La Motte-Picquet shadowed the , an oiler and a tugboat as it passed near French waters. The following month La Motte-Picquet was part of the Anglo-French CJEF exercise.