Jinnah Naval Base (Ormara)

Jinnah Naval Base is a Pakistan Navy base on the Makran coast at Ormara, in the Gwadar District of Balochistan, Pakistan, some 240 km west of Karachi and 285 km east of Gwadar. Named after Muhammad Ali Jinnah, it is the Pakistan Navy's second largest base and was established to disperse fleet assets away from Karachi, whose port lies close to the Indian maritime boundary and was blockaded during the 1971 war. It is linked to Karachi and Gwadar by the N-10 Makran Coastal Highway.

The base provides berthing for surface warships and submarines and functions as the navy's principal submarine base. In April 2014 the Pakistan Navy announced the transfer of primary operations and naval assets, including its diesel-electric submarine (SSK) fleet, from Karachi to Ormara, citing pollution, commercial congestion and proximity to India at Karachi. Ormara is expected to base the Hangor II-class boats, the export derivative of the Chinese Type 039B ordered under the 2015 contract with China Shipbuilding & Offshore International, of which half are being built at Wuchang Shipbuilding Industry Group in Wuhan and half at Karachi Shipyard & Engineering Works under technology transfer; the first was launched on 26 April 2024. Secure communications with submerged units are supported by the very low frequency station PNS Hamid in Sindh province. Berthing capacity is designed for later expansion, and the base has been undergoing modernisation. Cadet College Ormara, established in 2017, trains candidates for naval officer entry.

The Ministry of Defence approved construction of a fleet base away from Karachi, with ground broken on 17 March 1994 under a programme costed at about ₨4.5 billion. Work was carried out by the Turkish firms STFA Group and STM, the Belgian dredging contractor Jan De Nul, and the Pakistani Frontier Works Organisation and Military Engineer Services. The base was inaugurated on 22 June 2000 by Chief Executive General Pervez Musharraf, with construction of the connecting N-10 highway announced at the same ceremony.