British Army Saxon on the move during an exercize in Canada in 2003.
Source: UK MOD -
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The Saxon is an armored personnel carrier of UK origin. It started out as a private venture by Sankey in the 1970's and was named the AT-105. It is a major improvement over the previous AT-104, which was adopted by several nations. When acquired by the UK army in the early 1980's the name was changed to Saxon. It was acquired as a low cost APC to quickly ferry British troops to the European battlefield by road.
The Saxon is a much improved version of the AT-104 and is also based on a Bedford commercial 4x4 truck chassis. The engine is mounted at the front and the driver is seated on the right of the engine in an armored cab. The commander is seated behind the driver. The rear compartment seats 8 passengers.
The Saxon is armed with a 7.62mm MAG or Bren L4 machine gun, which is either pintle mounted or mounted in a small turret. The Saxon has no firing ports for the passengers. Most Saxon in police use are unarmed.
The steel armor protects the occupants of the Saxon from small arms fire and shell splinters. A redesigned V-shaped hull provides better protection from mines than the previous AT-104, but not as much as South African mine protected vehicles. The Saxon lacks an NBC system and smoke grenade dischargers.
The 4x4 chassis gives the Saxon a very good mobility on roads and average cross country performance. A 164hp Bedford diesel engine provides propulsion, although the latest production batches were produced with different engines.
The major user of the Saxon is the UK army. Over 600 were acquired to serve as armored personnel carriers or ambulances. In UK service the Saxon is to be replaced by a more modern armored personnel carrier. The Saxon was exported to a handful of nations and was mostly adopted for police use.
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