Mexico and weapons of mass destruction

Mexico is one of the few countries with the capabilities to manufacture nuclear weapons but Mexico has renounced nuclear weapons with the Treaty of Tlatelolco in 1968 and pledged to only use it's nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.In the 1970's Mexico's national institute for nuclear research successfully refined weapons grade uranium which is used in the manufacture of nuclear weapons but in April of 2010, Mexico agreed to turn over it's weapons grade uranium to the United States., however this action was not yet approved by the Mexican congress and the uranium remains in Mexico.

Weapons Grade Uranium Refinement & Clandestine Nuclear Program

Beginning in the the late 1960's the Mexican army began working with the Mexican national nuclear investigation institute (now part of CFE), the National Autonomous University of Mexico, and the former Mexican space agency, CONE (now merged with several other groups into the current Mexican space agency, AEXA) to began the process of manufacturing the necessary components to manufacture and deliver nuclear weapons and their respective military systems. Researchers from UNAM, CONE and the Mexican army were successful in creating weapons grade uranium by 1974. The plan for delivery of the nuclear weapons was to fit a warhead on a modified variant of the space launch rockets built by CONE (footage:[1][2][3][4]). The project was given the go ahead by President Gustavo Diaz Ordaz in 1968 following the Tlatelolco massacre due to fear of possible influence from communist powers, this was around the same time where the Mexican military began to quickly modernize (new armored vehicles guns and aircraft were also acquired). The Mexican government however could not openly create a nuclear weapon at this time due to the fact that Mexico had signed the Treaty of Tlatelolco in which Mexico promised not to manufacture nuclear weapons and only use it's nuclear capabilities for peaceful purposes. While Mexico's nuclear research institute does admit that it possesses weapons grade uranium and the facilities and capabilities to refine it, it is not known if Mexico ever did successfully manufacture nuclear weapons although if it did it is highly unlikely that the Mexico government would admit that it did do to Mexico's signing of the Tlatelolco treaty.

Means of Delivery

While it is not known if Mexico has produced nuclear weapons Mexico dose possess the means to create nuclear weapons and intermediate range delivery systems using either aerial launched systems from multiple aircraft types in service with the Mexican Air Force (via B57 type tactical nuclear bomb system from F-5, F-15, F-16, C-130, or Embraer R-99 aircraft) or it's Sa'ar 4.5 class naval vessels (and possibly from it's Durango class corvettes or Sierra class destroyer). It is also possible for Mexico to mount nuclear warheads on Gabriel II AShM in service with the Mexican Navy although in 2005 the Mexican Navy revealed that it was designing a new long range missile which theoretically would have the capability to deliver a warhead beyond the intermediate range.

Current Status

In April of 2010, the Mexican government reportedly reached a agreement to turn over it's weapons grade uranium to the United Statesbut this deal has not yet been approved by the legislative branch of the Mexican government and the weapons grade uranium remains in Mexico. It is not known if Mexico successfully tested a nuclear weapon although some have theorized that Mexico could have been a potential party in the nuclear detonation known as the Vela Incident. It is possible that the Mexican army does possess nuclear weapons or is still keeping open the possibility of obtaining nuclear weapons as the Mexican military continues to have a presence in Mexico's nuclear research institute and maintains oversight over a nuclear research reactor of the National Autonomous University of Mexico.

See also

• Military of Mexico
• Mexican Army
• Mexican Navy
• AEXA
• Brazilian nuclear weapons program