P.N.S. Mehran
Encyclopedia
Pakistan Naval Station Mehran (abbreviated to PNS Mehran) is a Pakistani naval
station
and headquarters of the Naval Air Arm
. The base is situated in Karachi
, Pakistan.
From its formation in 1975, Naval Aviation has grown to its present inventory of 27 multi role aircraft. The latest addition in the Air Arm is the Westland Lynx
helicopter and P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft. In early years of its establishment, Naval Air Arm depended upon Pakistan Air Force and Pakistan Army to meet the training requirement of air and ground crew. In April 1988, the Naval Aviation Training School (NATS) was established to impart training to air and ground crew of the Pakistan Naval Air Arm. The school is also geared to train surface fleet officers and men to meet the various requirements of ship borne flight operations.
PNS Mehran was commissioned by the Vice Chief of Naval Staff Rear Admiral L N Mungavan. On the first day strength of PNS Mehran was eight officers, four sailors and no aircraft. Although Sea King helicopters had been handed over to Pakistan Navy, they were still in the United Kingdom
. The first Commanding Officer was then Captain Syed Fazl Rab PN (P No 456). PNS Mehran, since its inceptions, is efficiently supporting day and night operational activities of all the squadrons. Despite facing acute shortage in every sphere, the base has accomplished every task assigned.
A Westland Sea King
helicopter was the first machine to fly from this Base. Breguet Atlantic and Sud Aviation Alouette aircraft soon joined the Naval Air Arm.
The attack was the third attack on Pakistani naval forces since American forces killed Osama bin Laden
. A spokesman for the Pakistan Taliban says the raid was revenge for bin Laden's killing, however Pakistani naval officials believe the attacks are linked to two other attacks that took place on April 26 and 28 respectively, not bin Laden's death. Eyewitnesses have claimed that the attackers were dressed in naval uniforms and were aware of the security protocol at the base and behaved like soldiers. This contradicts the claim by Pakistan's Interior Minster, Rehman Malik
who had claimed that the attackers had cut through barbed wire at a place on the perimeter where they could not be detected by security cameras, and that they were wearing black.
There are six squadrons under Cdr Air namely P3C Squadron (28 Sqn), Atlantic Squadron (29 Sqn), Fokker Squadron (27 Sqn), Seaking Squadron (111 Sqn) and Alouette Squadron (333 Sqn). All the operational/flying activities of the naval base are controlled by Cdr Air through the Officer Commanding (OC) of each Squadron. Cdr Air is further assisted by staff working directly under him.
Cdr AED is responsible for the maintenance and technical efficiency of all the aircraft. Under him, there are various Group Officers (GOs) who assists him in this duty. Some of the prominent GOs are GO Control, GO Avionics, GO Aircraft Engineering, GO Ground Engineering and GO S/R Depott etc.
CO MEHRAN is responsible for providing all logistics and administrative support to aviation units under COMNAV. Under him is the typical infrastructure of a naval unit which includes EXO, Supply Officer, Gunnery Officer, Communication Officer etc.
OC NATS is responsible for all sort of aviation related training of the Naval Air Arm. He is assisted by Training Cdr, Chief Flying Instructor (CFI) Rotary Wing, CFI Fixed wing and Chief Navigator Instructor (CNI). CFIs and CNI are further assisted by Instructor Pilots and Instructor Navigators under them.
Staff Officer (Operations) and Staff Maintenance Officer are responsible for advising and assisting COMNAV on matters related to Operations and Maintenance respectively.
A Base Flight Safety Officer is responsible for ensuring that safe flying practices are being followed by the squadrons. Quality Assurance Officer ensures that required quality standards are being maintained by the maintainers and technical departments.
The Naval Air Arm is one of the three main arms of the Pakistan Navy fleet. The existing inventory of the Naval Air Arm is as follows:
a. P3C Orion Long Range Maritime Patrol (LRMP) aircraft
b. Atlantique LRMPs
c. F-27 Fokker LRMPs
d. Sea King helicopters
e. Alouette helicopters
and the Air Force
. The AED initially began with limited first line maintenance of aircraft backed by rudimentary workshop facilities. Progressively, the scope of the Air Engineering Department expanded with the corresponding increase in aircraft inventory and their growing technical obligations. The AED, with a highly skilled workforce of 1,500 service personnel and 300 civilian technicians, is capable of undertaking overhaul and rebuild of P-3C
, Atlantic, Fokker, Westland Sea King
and Alouette III aircraft without foreign assistance.
Pakistan Navy
The Pakistan Navy is the naval warfare/service branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. Pakistan's Navy is responsible for Pakistan's coastline along the Arabian Sea and the defense of important civilian harbors and military bases...
station
Naval base
A naval base is a military base, where warships and naval ships are deployed when they have no mission at sea or want to restock. Usually ships may also perform some minor repairs. Some naval bases are temporary homes to aircraft that usually stay on the ships but are undergoing maintenance while...
and headquarters of the Naval Air Arm
Pakistan Naval Air Arm
The Pakistan Naval Air Arm is the naval aviation branch of the Pakistan Navy.The Naval Air Arm is tasked to carry out air surveillance, limited aerial warfare, and reconnaissance operations...
. The base is situated in Karachi
Karachi
Karachi is the largest city, main seaport and the main financial centre of Pakistan, as well as the capital of the province of Sindh. The city has an estimated population of 13 to 15 million, while the total metropolitan area has a population of over 18 million...
, Pakistan.
From its formation in 1975, Naval Aviation has grown to its present inventory of 27 multi role aircraft. The latest addition in the Air Arm is the Westland Lynx
Westland Lynx
The Westland Lynx is a British multi-purpose military helicopter designed and built by Westland Helicopters at its factory in Yeovil. Originally intended as a utility craft for both civil and naval usage, military interest led to the development of both battlefield and naval variants...
helicopter and P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft. In early years of its establishment, Naval Air Arm depended upon Pakistan Air Force and Pakistan Army to meet the training requirement of air and ground crew. In April 1988, the Naval Aviation Training School (NATS) was established to impart training to air and ground crew of the Pakistan Naval Air Arm. The school is also geared to train surface fleet officers and men to meet the various requirements of ship borne flight operations.
History
Commissioning Orders for PNS Mehran were received in the office of the Commander Pakistan Fleet on 13 September 1975. Three ‘D' Class houses from PNS Karsa were taken over on 18 September and thereafter the MES put in their efforts to prepare the place and surroundings for housing and commissioning of PNS Mehran. The work was completed 25 September, a day before PNS Mehran was formally commissioned on 26 September 1975.PNS Mehran was commissioned by the Vice Chief of Naval Staff Rear Admiral L N Mungavan. On the first day strength of PNS Mehran was eight officers, four sailors and no aircraft. Although Sea King helicopters had been handed over to Pakistan Navy, they were still in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. The first Commanding Officer was then Captain Syed Fazl Rab PN (P No 456). PNS Mehran, since its inceptions, is efficiently supporting day and night operational activities of all the squadrons. Despite facing acute shortage in every sphere, the base has accomplished every task assigned.
A Westland Sea King
Westland Sea King
The Westland WS-61 Sea King is a British licence-built version of the American Sikorsky S-61 helicopter of the same name, built by Westland Helicopters. The aircraft differs considerably from the American version, with Rolls-Royce Gnome engines , British made anti-submarine warfare systems and a...
helicopter was the first machine to fly from this Base. Breguet Atlantic and Sud Aviation Alouette aircraft soon joined the Naval Air Arm.
22 May 2011 attack
On 22 May 2011, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan claimed that its force of 8-20 armed men had attacked the base. Aircraft stationed in the base were destroyed using rocket propelled grenades, including a helicopter and two, out of the Pakistan Navy's four, P-3C Orion aircraft. The Orions were upgraded P-3C MPA and P-3B AEW models equipped with Hawkeye 2000 AEW system and formed the core of Pakistan's early warning system. The Zarrar Battalion of the Special Service Group responded to the attack, with the military killing four of a claimed force of 8-20 attackers at a cost of ten of their own men in an operation that lasted 15 hours. The remaining assailants are believed to have been captured or escaped and an unexploded suicide jacket and live grenades were recovered after the operations.The attack was the third attack on Pakistani naval forces since American forces killed Osama bin Laden
Death of Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Laden, then head of the Islamist militant group al-Qaeda, was killed in Pakistan on May 2, 2011, shortly after 1 a.m. local time by a United States special forces military unit....
. A spokesman for the Pakistan Taliban says the raid was revenge for bin Laden's killing, however Pakistani naval officials believe the attacks are linked to two other attacks that took place on April 26 and 28 respectively, not bin Laden's death. Eyewitnesses have claimed that the attackers were dressed in naval uniforms and were aware of the security protocol at the base and behaved like soldiers. This contradicts the claim by Pakistan's Interior Minster, Rehman Malik
Rehman Malik
27 April 2009 He has been the interior adviser since 27 March 2008.Senator A. Rehman Malik is a Pakistani politician, member of the Senate of Pakistan, and the current Interior Minister of Pakistan under the Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani administration. His Second name is Shetan Malik and he...
who had claimed that the attackers had cut through barbed wire at a place on the perimeter where they could not be detected by security cameras, and that they were wearing black.
Operations
The Naval Air Arm at PNS Mehran is headed by Commander Naval Aviation (COMNAV). Under COMNAV, there are four Head of Departments (HODs) namely Commander Air (Cdr Air), Commander Air Engineering Department (Cdr AED), Commanding Officer MEHRAN (CO MEH) and Officer Commanding Naval Aviation Training School (OC NATS).There are six squadrons under Cdr Air namely P3C Squadron (28 Sqn), Atlantic Squadron (29 Sqn), Fokker Squadron (27 Sqn), Seaking Squadron (111 Sqn) and Alouette Squadron (333 Sqn). All the operational/flying activities of the naval base are controlled by Cdr Air through the Officer Commanding (OC) of each Squadron. Cdr Air is further assisted by staff working directly under him.
Cdr AED is responsible for the maintenance and technical efficiency of all the aircraft. Under him, there are various Group Officers (GOs) who assists him in this duty. Some of the prominent GOs are GO Control, GO Avionics, GO Aircraft Engineering, GO Ground Engineering and GO S/R Depott etc.
CO MEHRAN is responsible for providing all logistics and administrative support to aviation units under COMNAV. Under him is the typical infrastructure of a naval unit which includes EXO, Supply Officer, Gunnery Officer, Communication Officer etc.
OC NATS is responsible for all sort of aviation related training of the Naval Air Arm. He is assisted by Training Cdr, Chief Flying Instructor (CFI) Rotary Wing, CFI Fixed wing and Chief Navigator Instructor (CNI). CFIs and CNI are further assisted by Instructor Pilots and Instructor Navigators under them.
Staff Officer (Operations) and Staff Maintenance Officer are responsible for advising and assisting COMNAV on matters related to Operations and Maintenance respectively.
A Base Flight Safety Officer is responsible for ensuring that safe flying practices are being followed by the squadrons. Quality Assurance Officer ensures that required quality standards are being maintained by the maintainers and technical departments.
The Naval Air Arm is one of the three main arms of the Pakistan Navy fleet. The existing inventory of the Naval Air Arm is as follows:
a. P3C Orion Long Range Maritime Patrol (LRMP) aircraft
b. Atlantique LRMPs
c. F-27 Fokker LRMPs
d. Sea King helicopters
e. Alouette helicopters
Air Engineering Department
The Air Engineering Department (AED) was established in the mid-1970s at PNS Mehran with the assistance of the Pakistani ArmyPakistan Army
The Pakistan Army is the branch of the Pakistani Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. The Pakistan Army came into existence after the Partition of India and the resulting independence of Pakistan in 1947. It is currently headed by General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani. The Pakistan...
and the Air Force
Pakistan Air Force
The Pakistan Air Force is the leading air arm of the Pakistan Armed Forces and is primarily tasked with the aerial defence of Pakistan with a secondary role of providing air support to the Pakistan Army and the Pakistan Navy. The PAF also has a tertiary role of providing strategic air transport...
. The AED initially began with limited first line maintenance of aircraft backed by rudimentary workshop facilities. Progressively, the scope of the Air Engineering Department expanded with the corresponding increase in aircraft inventory and their growing technical obligations. The AED, with a highly skilled workforce of 1,500 service personnel and 300 civilian technicians, is capable of undertaking overhaul and rebuild of P-3C
P-3 Orion
The Lockheed P-3 Orion is a four-engine turboprop anti-submarine and maritime surveillance aircraft developed for the United States Navy and introduced in the 1960s. Lockheed based it on the L-188 Electra commercial airliner. The aircraft is easily recognizable by its distinctive tail stinger or...
, Atlantic, Fokker, Westland Sea King
Westland Sea King
The Westland WS-61 Sea King is a British licence-built version of the American Sikorsky S-61 helicopter of the same name, built by Westland Helicopters. The aircraft differs considerably from the American version, with Rolls-Royce Gnome engines , British made anti-submarine warfare systems and a...
and Alouette III aircraft without foreign assistance.
Functions of AED
The functions of the AED encompass diverse maintenance activities that range in sophistication and depth. The repair and maintenance work varies from basic inspections to complete stripping and rebuilding of aircraft. The AED performs the following functions.- Provide technical advice and assistance to squadrons;
- Extend Second & Third Level maintenance support to squadrons;
- Undertake complete stripping, inspection, refurbishment and rebuild of rotary and fixed wing aircraft;
- Conduct Third and Fourth level maintenance on aircraft equipment;
- Design and embody aircraft and equipment modification;
- Undertake aircraft structural repairs; and
- Conduct and monitor training of air and ground crew.
Organisation
The organisation is headed by the Commander Air Engineering Department. The Commanderr AED is assisted by seven Group Officers to perform the functions efficiently.External links
- PNS Mehran
- PNS Mehran, Karachi
- Pakistan Navy, PNS Mehran