Designed by Jean Biche to meet a Navy requirement for a shipboard two-seat fighter from the carrier Beam, the P.L.5 C2b was a single-bay sesquiplane. Of wooden construction, the fuselage was watertight, the undercarriage jettisonable. Flush-fitting stabilising floats were provided to allow the aircraft to land on water in an emergency.

Four prototypes were built in 1924, the first, second and fourth having a 450hp Hispano-Suiza 12Ha and the third having a 480hp Renault 12Kd engine.

After successful trials at Saint-Raphael, a series of 20 aircraft was ordered, these being delivered between July and December 1926. The series version of the P.L.5 carried an armament of two forward-firing 7.7mm Vickers machine guns and twin Lewis guns of similar calibre on a ring mounting in the rear cockpit. Power was provided by a 450hp Lorraine-Dietrich water-cooled engine.

Max take-off weight: 1800 kg / 3968 lb
Empty weight: 1150 kg / 2535 lb
Wingspan: 12.40 m / 40 ft 8 in
Length: 8.80 m / 28 ft 10 in
Height: 3.10 m / 10 ft 2 in
Wing area: 37.00 sq.m / 398.26 sq ft
Ceiling: 7000m
Max. speed: 225 km/h / 140 mph
Range: 800 km / 497 miles