Pakistan Naval Station Mehran (abbreviated to PNS Mehran) is a Pakistani naval stationand 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 Orionmaritime 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 theUnited 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[citation needed], the base has accomplished every task assigned. A Westland Sea King helicopter was the first machine to fly from this Base. Breguet Atlanticand Sud Aviation Alouette aircraft soon joined the Naval Air Arm.

22 May 2011 attack

Main article: PNS Mehran 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.[1] 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.[2] The attack was the third attack on Pakistani naval forces since American forces killed Osama bin Laden.[3][4] A spokesman for the Pakistan Taliban says the raid was revenge for bin Laden's killing, [2] 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.[5] 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.[2]