The Mexican Long-Range Ocean Patrol in its strategic context

The POLA project involves the construction of ships in national shipyards, generating employment and technology transfer to a region of the country where industrial development is still in its early stages. The construction of the POLA at ASTIMAR 20 (Naval Shipyard) is only possible thanks to the naval design and project management capabilities developed by the Mexican Navy after 25 years of continuous work, which have resulted in the creation of Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs) of the Holzinger, Sierra, Durango, and Oaxaca classes (the latter with quality standards that rival any internationally designed OPV). Therefore, the POLA project has direct positive effects on the economic and productive structure of Oaxaca and the national shipbuilding industry in general. The POLA project, with all its sensors, weapons systems and embarked helicopter, is actually a means to a strategic end: to more effectively confront the maritime scenario of regional and global security in the 21st century, and therefore it must be resumed in the coming years.