Mexican Navy

The Mexican Navy (Spanish: Armada de México) is the maritime service branch of the Mexican Armed Forces. The Secretariat of the Navy is in charge of administration of the navy. The commander of the navy is the Secretary of the Navy, who is both a cabinet minister and a career naval officer. The Mexican Navy's stated mission is "to use the naval force of the federation for external defense, and to help with internal order". As of 2020, the Navy consisted of about 68,200 personnel plus reserves, over 189 ships, and about 130 aircraft. The Navy attempts to maintain a constant modernization program to upgrade its response capability. Given Mexico's large area of water (3,149,920 km2 (1,216,190 sq mi)) and extensive coastline (11,122 km (6,911 mi)), the Navy's duties are of great importance. Perhaps its most important on-going missions are fighting the Mexican drug war, which includes protecting Pemex's oil wells in Campeche in the Gulf of Mexico. Another important task of the Mexican Navy is to help people in hurricane relief operations and other natural disasters. The Mexican navy is the second largest navy in Latin America and North America, and the third largest in the Americas after the United States and Brazil.