The PNS Ahsan ( ur, ) is a

naval base A naval base, navy base, or military port is a military base, where warships and naval ships are docked when they have no mission at sea or need to restock. Ships may also undergo repairs. Some naval bases are temporary homes to aircraft that us ...

located in Makran, Balochistan Province. The base is named after legendary naval intelligence officer and former Chief of Naval Staff Vice-Admiral

Syed Mohammad Ahsan Vice-Admiral Syed Mohammad Ahsan ( ur, سید محمد احسن b. 1920 – d. 1990) often known as S. M. Ahsan, was a senior admiral of the Pakistan Navy who was the Commander in Chief of the Pakistan Navy, serving under President Ayub ...

. The base is currently controlled by the

Pakistan Navy ur, ہمارے لیے اللّٰہ کافی ہے اور وہ بہترین کارساز ہے۔ English language, English: Allah is Sufficient for us - and what an excellent (reliable) Trustee (of affairs) is He!(''Quran, Qur'an, Al Imran, 3:173' ...

, and the base provides logistics support and surveillance systems operations to ensure the security of Pakistan Navy's infrastructure.

History

The administrative establishment of a naval base was led in 1970 under the command of

Rear-Admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarded ...

Karamat Rahman Niazi Admiral Karamat Rahman Niazi ( ur, ; usually shortened to K.R. Niazi) (died 4 May 2021) was a senior officer of Pakistan Navy who served as the Chief of Naval Staff (CNS) from 1979 to 1983 of Pakistan Navy. He was renowned for being the ...

who supervised the construction of the base. The base played an integral and important role in

Balochistan conflict The Insurgency in Balochistan is an insurgency or revolt by Baloch nationalism, Baloch nationalists against the governments of Government of Pakistan, Pakistan and Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Iran in the Balochistan, Balochistan ...

, where it had provided intelligence and logistic support to

Pakistan Army The Pakistan Army (, ) is the Army, land service branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The roots of its modern existence trace back to the British Indian Army that ceased to exist following the partition of India, Partition of British India, wh ...

. The base successfully applied an effective naval blockade of illegal arm smuggling in the Province. Later in the conflict, the base provided security to the Pakistan Navy's infrastructure and establishment in the Balochistan Province. Formerly known as Remote Data Station Mianwali (RDSM), the base was renamed in the honour of former Chief of Naval Staff Vice-Admiral

. The base was commissioned on 30 October 1991, by Chief of Naval Staff Admiral

Yastur-ul-Haq Malik Admiral Yastur-ul-Haq Malik ( ur, ; b. 24 December 1931), , is a retired four-star rank admiral who served as the Chief of Naval Staff (CNS) of Pakistan Navy from 10 November 1988 until retiring from his military service on 8 November ...

The base is the garrison of the Southern Naval Command, and commands all the naval assets in the Province. As of today, the base includes an airport and small naval dockyard. The base provided the logistic support to

Jinnah Naval Base Jinnah Naval Base ( ur, ) is a strategic naval base of the Pakistan Navy located at Ormara, Balochistan, Pakistan. It is named after Pakistan's founder, Mohammad Ali Jinnah. It is Pakistan's second largest naval base. Location Jinnah Naval Base ...

to expand the relief operations, codename ''Operation Madad'', in the Balochistan Province and the upper Sindh Province. On 7 June 2010,

Naval Aviation Naval aviation is the application of military air power by navies, whether from warships that embark aircraft, or land bases. Naval aviation is typically projected to a position nearer the target by way of an aircraft carrier. Carrier-based a ...

Aérospatiale Alouette III The Aérospatiale Alouette III (, ''Lark''; company designations SA 316 and SA 319) is a single-engine, light utility helicopter developed by France, French aircraft company Sud Aviation. During its production life, it proved to be a relatively p ...

landed and stationed at PNS Ahsan. The base supervised the distribution of more than 15000 kg relief goods to Gwadar affectees.

Roles and functions

The primary roles of the naval base is to provide the logistic support to JNB Space centre,

Electronic intelligence Signals intelligence (SIGINT) is intelligence-gathering by interception of ''signals'', whether communications between people (communications intelligence—abbreviated to COMINT) or from electronic signals not directly used in communication ( ...

(ELINT) collection, and co-ordinate Air defence of Ormara complex. The base also provides the refuelling facilities for HALO Operations of

Special Service Group Navy The Pakistan Navy Special Service Group abbreviated SSGN or simply Navy seals, is the special operations force tasked with the conducting the small-unit based military operations in all environmental formats of the sea, air, and land by adoptin ...

(SSG , and also provides secondary support and assistance in

Search and rescue Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search ...

(SAR) operations.

References

External links

PNS Ahsan
– Official Website

– Unofficial Website {{Pakistani Armed Forces Ahsan Military installations in Balochistan, Pakistan Ahsan