The Mexican Navy’ Institute for Technology Innovation is developing three Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) that will be used for intelligence and reconnaissance missions.
It has been announced that the Navy is asking for 200,000 USD to fund the research and development of such technology, instead of acquiring UAVs already available in the market.
The Mexican Navy bought a similar number of UAVs developed by Hydra Technologies a year ago, but it seems that naval authorities want to reduce acquisition costs by developing their own unmanned technologies.
It is not clear whether the Navy will partner with private companies –such as Hydra Technologies- or will work by its own.
Nevertheless – and given Mexico’s security crisis- the use of Unmanned Aerial Technology will definitively boost the Armed Forces’ ISR operational capabilities.
Addendum:
The Mexican Navy is not the only service operating UAVs, the Mexican Air Force operates the Israel-made Elbit Systems Hermes 450 as the one pictured below.
Defensa - Estrategia - Geopolítica 
I live in Ensenada on one side of the Air Forces military airport, I have observed many over-flights of UAV’s in this area. The UAV’s appear to be American made predators. I first noticed the UAV’s about a year ago in what appeared to be training flights, the operators were flying touch and go patterns around the airport. They did not actually touch down just flying the pattern and it was evident the operator was new to the system. After about 6 months of this the UAV was deployed somewhere else,( no unmistakable motor noise), the UAV has returned recently flying much higher.
Thanks for your comment, it is really interesting.
Are you sure those UAV’s were American-made? The Air Force bought some Israel-made Hermes 450 UAV’s last year, and the Navy bought some Hydra Technologies Ehécatl also in 2009. Perhaps you saw either the Air Force or the Navy testing the new product’s capabilities.
Thanks again.
Excellent blog! I just saw the note the other day about the UAV’s the Mexican navy is about to get, some people said that they should be using Mexican UAV’s.
Just my 2c: I know its good to invest in our own technology, I hope thats done, but also we need extremely good UAV’s, the Mexican ones are way behind in specs compared to the Israeli ones. I think we should walk both ways.
Hi Ricardo, that’s exactly what the Mexican Armed Forces are doing. Don’t forget that the Air Force already operates Israel-made Elbit Hermes 450 UAV’s.
The Mexican-made Ehécatl are also very capable.
Best regards.
This whole discussion is totally unrealistic:
1- The Mexican Navy is NOT developing any UAV technology, or requiring funds for that effect.
2- The Israeli UAVs, especially the Hermes450 is totally wrong for Mexico. This acquisition by the Sedena is clearly a product of corruption and bribery. This UAV is not mobile and cannot fulfill Mexico’s requirements nearly as well as the Mexican UAVs.. The Israeli also cost SIX times more. Do your homework before posting!
Edgar, if you want to post a comment…..do it with respect. As far as I know, you don’t get charged for being polite.
The Mexican Navy IS asking for US 200,000 for a project called: Desarrollo de Vehículos Aéreos No Tripulados (VANT).
You can access all the information provided by the Navy typing this number (10132120003) right here: http://www.apartados.hacienda.gob.mx/sistema_cartera_inversion/index.html (section “clave de cartera“)
As far as the Hermes 450, you should know that I agree with you. That UAV is probably one of the rarest pruchases by the Mexican Ministry of Defense.
Nevertheless, the Hermes 450 is an outstanding UAV system.
actually the mexican goverment has mexican made uavs and they are called Ehécatl and they are a bit slower that the predator but are alot smaller and compact so it has the advantage in some ways but not in speed. im in the mexican navy and my friend alfredo alvarez actually flys them and he said they are manuverable. and im not saying anthing else due to security reasons.
I too am interested in UAV’s. I wish I would have studied this technology more in my past. Does anyone have a link to where I can learn more about how this technology is moving? I do consider myself a novice on this field.
Regards,
Joel
Hi Joel, thanks for visiting.
Please contact Hydra Technologies at Guadalajara. They are the best in Latin America: http://www.hydra-technologies.com/
Best regards.
I believe that the future of the aerospace industry is in uav tecnology. Mexico needs to lnvest more money in uav research and development,so that we can export uavs and other industrial products instead of people.we should never rely on other countries to provide us with industrial products because that dependency can jeoperdise our national security,besides every time we buy defence products from other countries we are creating employment in those nations instead of generating employment in OUR country.
Thanks for your comment. Mexico already has a well-capable UAV company, named Hydra Technologies. Have you visited their website?
Regards.
I’m glad that Mexico is investing money in UAV technology, and although we are still just a few steps behind in this technology, I’m sure that Mexico is more than capable of producing UAV of the same caliber as that of the Israeli or even American UAV’s. The biggest steps in UAV development in Mexico have been given in the last ten years, and it will be a total lost if the newly elected president and his naval and army appointees don’t have the same vision as the ones who are pushing these innovative steps in Mexican military technology.
Thanks for the comment René. It’s been a while since the last time I saw you online.
Best regards.