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The 'Mexican Navy' (official name 'Secretaría de Marina' or 'SEMAR') is a branch of the Mexican Military responsible for conducting naval operations. Its stated mission is "to use the naval force of the federation for the exterior defense, and to help with internal order"^[1]. The Mexican Navy consists of over 55,500 men and women, over 300 ships, and 70 aircraft.^[2] The Mexican Navy has entered a constant modernization program, in order to upgrade its response capability.
For Mexico's huge mass of water the importance of its navy is really decisive, mainly to protect PEMEX's oil wells in Campeche over the Mexican Gulf. Another important task of Mexican Navy is to help people in hurricane relief operations, applying "Plan Marina" (Navy plan) in order to help affected people.

Contents

Organization

Inter-Service Relations

Equipment

Surface equipment

Frigates

Destroyers

Amphibious ships

Missile boats

Gunboats

Other ships

Aircraft

Rotary-wing

Land vehicles

Sukhoi acquisition

Future Aircraft

Navy New Ship Project

See also

Notes

Organization

The commander in chief of all military forces is the President of Mexico. Day-to-day control of the Mexican Navy is the Navy Secretary (currently Mariano Francisco Saynez Mendoza).
The Mexican Navy is divided into two main forces, the Fuerza Naval del Golfo (Naval Force of the Gulf and the Fuerza Naval del Pacifico (Naval Force of the Pacific).

Inter-Service Relations

Despite being the less-favored of the two branches of the Mexican military, the Navy has a reputation for being a well-run and organized outfit. This reputation allows for a close relationship with the U.S. Navy, as evidenced by the procurement of numerous former USN ships by its Mexican counterpart.

Equipment

The Navy mainly consists of surface ships, with few aircraft. In recent years, the Mexican Navy has showed interest in acquiring supersonic fighters^[3] and larger transport ships, such as two ''Austin'' class ships.^[4]

Surface equipment

Frigates

The Mexican Navy operates six frigates, all of them ex-United States Navy warships.


★ ''Allende'' class: ex-USN ''Knox'' class frigates

★
★ ARM Allende (FF-211) (formerly USS Stein (FF-1065))

★
★ ARM Abasolo (FF-212) (formerly USS Marvin Shields (FF-1066))

★
★ ARM Victoria (FF-213) (formerly USS Pharris (FF-1094))

★
★ ARM Mina (FF-214) (formerly USS Whipple (FF-1062))

★ ''Bravo'' Class: ex-USN ''Bronstein'' class frigates

★
★ ARM Bravo (FF-201) (formerly USS McCloy (FF-1038)).

★
★ ARM Galeana (FF-202) (formerly USS Bronstein (FF-1037))

Destroyers

★ Quetzalcoatl Class

★
★ ARM Netzahualcoyotl (D-102)

★ Manuel Azueta Class

★
★ ARM Manuel Azueta (D-111)

Amphibious ships

★ Panuco Class

★
★ ARM Manzanillo (A-402)

★ Papaloapan Class

★
★ ARM Papaloapan (A-411)

★
★ ARM Usumacinta (A-412)

Missile boats

★ Huracan Class (ex-Saar 4.5 Class missile boat)

★
★ ARM Huracan (A-301) (formerly INS Aliya)

★
★ ARM Tormenta (A-302) (formerly INS Geula)

Gunboats

★ Valle class

★
★ ARM Barrera

★
★ ARM Escobedo

★
★ ARM Doblado

★
★ ARM Santos

★
★ ARM Alvarez

★
★ ARM Zamora

★
★ ARM Farias

★
★ ARM Zarco

★
★ ARM Vallarta

★
★ ARM Ortega

★
★ ARM Matamoros

★ Uribe class

★
★ ARM Uribe

★
★ ARM Azueta

★
★ ARM Baranda

★
★ ARM Breton

★
★ ARM Blanco

★
★ ARM Monasterio

★ Holzinger class

★
★ ARM Holzinger

★
★ ARM Godinez

★
★ ARM DE LA Vega

★
★ ARM Berriozabal

★ Sierra class

★
★ ARM Sierra

★
★ ARM Prieto

★
★ ARM Romero

★ Durango class

★
★ ARM Durango

★
★ ARM Sonora

★
★ ARM Guanajuato

★
★ ARM Veracruz

★ Oaxaca class

★
★ ARM Oaxaca

★
★ ARM California

Other ships

60 smaller patrol boats.Also 32 axilary ships.In total, the Mexican Navy has over 300 operational ships

Aircraft

★ 8 CASA C-212

★ 1 Buffalo DHC-5D

★ 1 Learjet 60

★ 1 Learjet 31-A

★ 1 Learjet 25-D

★ 1 Saberliner 60

★ 4 Turbocommander

★ 5 Baron B-55

★ 5 beech F-33

★ 9 Lancair

★ 14 Maule MX-7

★ 7 Aermacchi M-290 RediGO

★ 10 Zlin

★ 3 E-2C Hawkeye

★ Aermacchi AL-60

★ Antonov An-32

★ "DASH-8"

Rotary-wing

★ Surveillance: Eurocopter Panther, Eurocopter Fennec, McDonnell Douglas MD 902 Explorer, Bölkow BO-105 Super 5

★ Transport: Mi-17, Mi-2

★ Trainers: Robinson R-44, Rotor Way EXEC 162F

Land vehicles

★ HMMWV

★ Gama Goat

★ Ural-4320

★ BTR-70

★ Other minor transport vehicles as buses, trucks, pick-ups, and cars.

Sukhoi acquisition

C A N C E L L E D
From the beginning of the year 2006, the Mexican Military decided that if they could get the necessary budget, they would pick the Sukhoi Su-27 as their interceptor. The decision was made after several FAM pilots flew to Russia and Sweden to try the Su-27's and the JAS 39 Gripen respectively. Throughout the year 2006, there was considerable speculation on the specific Su-27 version that the SEMAR (Secretaría de Marina) would opt to acquire. The SEMAR announced in December of the past year that they are interested specifically in the Su-27SKM version.
It is planned to acquire twelve Su-27SKM and one Su-30MK2 aircraft.^[5].
The Navy has scrapped the project in favor of a more "cost-efficient" method of defense than the Sukhoi, as all purchase offers were refused.^[6]

Future Aircraft

The Mexican Navy is studying the Mirage 2000 and JAS 39 Gripen as possibly aircraft for coastal surveillance.

Navy New Ship Project

This is a new project started by the Mexican Navy to replace existing U.S. Navy ships in the Mexican fleet with a new multi-purpose ship. The ship is a compact frigate, a new design comprising of a 57 mm Phalanx Main battery and vertical launch tubes. The new multi-purpose ship is capable of carrying a fully loaded helicopter on its landing pad and house it internally.

See also

★ Naval ranks and insignia of Mexico

Notes

1. "Mission and objectives"
2. "Material Aereo"
3. "Mexico in Talks with Moscow over Fighter Jets"
4. "The Mexican Helicopter Carriers"
5. AirForces Monthly, February 2007
6. http://www.semar.gob.mx/boletin/2007/bol_015_07.htm