This article needs additional citations for verification .(January 2013) |
Saxon | |
---|---|
Type | Armoured personnel carrier |
Place of origin | United Kingdom |
Service history | |
In service | 1976-present |
Used by | Operators |
Wars | |
Production history | |
Designer | GKN Sankey |
Designed | 1975-1976 |
Manufacturer | |
Specifications | |
Mass | 9,940 kg (21,910 lb) (standard) 11,660 kg (25,710 lb) (combat) |
Length | 5.17 m (17 ft 0 in) |
Width | 2.49 m (8 ft 2 in) |
Height | 2.86 m (9 ft 5 in) |
Crew | 2 |
Main armament | 7.62 mm MG |
Secondary armament | none |
Engine | Bedford 500 6-cyl diesel 164 hp (122 kW) |
Power/weight | 14.06 hp/t (10.48 kW/t) |
Payload capacity | 10 passengers |
Transmission | Allison AT-545 automatic with 4 forward gears and 1 reverse gear |
Suspension | leaf spring with hydraulic shock absorbers |
Fuel capacity | 153 L (34 imp gal) |
Operational range | 510 km (320 mi) |
Maximum speed | 96 km/h (60 mph) |
References | [1] |
The Saxon is an armoured personnel carrier formerly used by the British Army and supplied in small numbers to various overseas organisations. It was developed by GKN Sankey from earlier projects, AT 100 IS and AT104, and was due to be replaced by the Future Rapid Effect System.
The British Army initially ordered a batch of 47 vehicles in early 1983, with first deliveries taking place in early 1984. [2]
The second order for the British Army was a batch of 247 vehicles with the option for a further 200, the latter exercised in late 1985. The final deliveries of the 447 vehicles was complete by early 1989. [2]
The Royal Artillery ordered 30 Saxons for use as command post vehicles armed with Rapier missiles. These vehicles were all delivered in early 1987. [2]
In 1990, the British Ministry of Defence placed an order of around 100 vehicles as well an order of Saxon ambulances, with first deliveries taking place in 1991. These vehicles had a number of improvements over earlier models, including a Cummins 6BT 5.91-litre turbocharged six-cylinder diesel engine developing 160 bhp coupled with a fully automatic transmission. [2]
The first operational Saxons were deployed in Germany in 1983, to equip mechanised infantry battalions. The Saxon has now been withdrawn from service in HM Armed Forces, but 147 are kept in storage.[ citation needed ] The Saxon has been deployed to places such as Bahrain, Brunei, Bosnia, Malaysia, Northern Ireland, Oman, Iraq and Afghanistan.
Seven Saxons were ordered by the Royal Hong Kong Police from GKN Sankey in 1987 and delivered in 1988 where they replaced 15 Saracens. They were assigned to the Police Tactical Unit [3] and remained there until withdrawn in 2009. In the Balkans, Saxons were outfitted with turrets taken from FV432s to serve as an improvised anti-sniper turret. [4]
75 Saxons were sold to Ukraine reportedly under a contract made in 2013, i.e. predating the start of the Russo-Ukrainian War. [5] The Ukrainian military announced the deal on 5 December 2014. [6] The former chief commander of British land forces, Richard Dannatt, said that supplying the vehicles to Ukraine was "immoral" as they were "useless" in high intensity warfare. [7] Most of them were outfitted with DShK and dual PK GPMGs. [8]
In Ukrainian service, the type has seen combat against Russian forces during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. As of May 2024, available video and photographic evidence indicates Ukraine has lost at least 14 Saxons during the invasion, with 8 being captured by Russian forces and 6 being destroyed. [9]
The last reported sighting of a Saxon in Ukrainian service was in January 2024. Due their age and poor condition after eight years of combat use, they have been largely replaced with modern MRAPs provided by the United Kingdom and other allied nations. [10]
The Saxon was developed by GKN Defence (now BAE Systems) as the successor of the AT104. [2]
Main improvements over the AT104 include changes in the armoured hull to provide an equal level of protection to the radiator, engine, transmission and crew; a redesigned hull floor to improve protection against landmines; a more powerful diesel engine and a shorter wheelbase for improved mobility and turning. [2]
The hull is all-welded steel with the driver seated at the front on the right side (left-hand drive versions were also available for export) and the personnel compartment in the rear. [1]
The driver can reach his seat from inside the vehicle or by an hatch over his position. There are bulletproof windscreens on the front and both sides. [1]
The commander's cupola has four sides each with a vision block and a single-piece hatch cover. A 7.62 mm machine gun can be pintle-mounted if necessary. The commander module can be removed and replaced with another module with a different armament installation. [1]
The personnel sits on padded bench seats located on each side of the vehicle which are equipped with seat belts, and leave by two doors on the rear and a single door in each side of the hull. Each door have a firing port and a vision block. There are additional firing ports in each side of the hull and a single firing port in the left forward side of the vehicle. The interior of the hull is lined with a 26 mm (1.0 in) thick thermal insulation and a forced air circulation system was installed by default on all vehicles. [1]
The armoured hull provides protection against small arms including 7.62 mm armour-piercing rounds, and high-explosive shell fragments up to 155 mm (6.1 in) bursting at 10 m (33 ft) from the vehicle. The floor is V-shaped to give maximum protection against mine blasts, except for the axles, which are outside of the armoured compartment. [1]
In British service, each vehicle carried a fully equipped rifle squad of 10. The British Army Saxons originally had a fixed observation cupola for the commander with a socket in each corner of the cupola for a 7.62 mm general-purpose machine gun mount, no door on the left side of the vehicle, and fully enclosed external stowage bins. [2] A total of 515 vehicles were fitted with L8 66 mm smoke grenade launchers. [1]
The T-62 is a Soviet main battle tank that was first introduced in 1961. As a further development of the T-55 series, the T-62 retained many similar design elements of its predecessor including low profile and thick turret armour.
The BMP-2 is an amphibious infantry fighting vehicle introduced in the 1980s in the Soviet Union, following on from the BMP-1 of the 1960s.
The Véhicule de l'Avant Blindé or VAB is a French armoured personnel carrier and support vehicle designed and manufactured by Renault Trucks Defense. It entered French service in 1979 and around 5,000 were produced for the French Army as well as for export. It has seen combat in various conflicts in Africa, Asia as well as Europe and has also been exported to more than 15 countries.
The Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (Tracked), abbreviated CVR(T), is a family of armoured fighting vehicles (AFVs) developed in the 1960s and is in service with the British Army and others throughout the world. They are small, highly mobile, air-transportable armoured vehicles, originally designed to replace the Alvis Saladin armoured car.
The FV101 Scorpion is a British armoured reconnaissance vehicle and light tank. It was the lead vehicle and the fire support type in the Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (Tracked), CVR(T), family of seven armoured vehicles. Manufactured by Alvis, it was introduced into service with the British Army in 1973 and was withdrawn in 1994. More than 3,000 were produced and used as a reconnaissance vehicle or a light tank.
The Warrior tracked vehicle family is a series of British armoured vehicles, originally developed to replace FV430 series armoured vehicles. The Warrior started life as the MCV-80, "Mechanised Combat Vehicle for the 1980s". One of the requirements of the new vehicle was a top speed able to keep up with the projected new MBT, the MBT-80 – later cancelled and replaced by what became the Challenger 1 – which the FV432 armoured personnel carrier could not. The project was begun in 1972; GKN Defence won the production contract in 1984 and the Warrior was accepted for service with the British Army in November 1984. Production commenced in January 1986 at Telford, with the first vehicles completed in December that year. GKN Defence was purchased by BAE Systems, via Alvis plc.
The BTR-60 is the first vehicle in a series of Soviet eight-wheeled armoured personnel carriers (APCs). It was developed in the late 1950s as a replacement for the BTR-152 and was seen in public for the first time in 1961. BTR stands for bronetransportyor.
The FV432 is the armoured personnel carrier variant in the British Army's FV430 series of armoured fighting vehicles. Since its introduction in the 1960s, it has been the most common variant, being used for transporting infantry on the battlefield. At its peak in the 1980s, almost 2,500 vehicles were in use.
The Ferret armoured car, also commonly called the Ferret scout car, is a British armoured fighting vehicle designed and built for reconnaissance purposes. The Ferret was produced between 1952 and 1971 by the UK company Daimler. It was widely used by regiments in the British Army, as well as the RAF Regiment and Commonwealth countries throughout the period.
The AMX-10 RC is a French armoured fighting vehicle manufactured by Nexter Systems for armoured reconnaissance purposes. Equipping French cavalry units since 1981, over 240 remained in service with the French Army in 2021. 108 units were sold to Morocco and 12 to Qatar. "RC" stands for "Roues-Canon", meaning "wheeled gun". English language newspapers have often incorrectly referred to it as a light tank, a mistranslation of the French term "char", which refers to a wider category of armoured fighting vehicles than the English word "tank".
The AMX-10P is a French amphibious infantry fighting vehicle. It was developed from 1965 onwards to replace the AMX-VCI in the French Army. It served with the French Army from its introduction in 1973 until its retirement in 2015, when it was fully replaced by the VBCI.
The BTR-80 is an 8×8 wheeled amphibious armoured personnel carrier (APC) designed in the Soviet Union. It was adopted in 1985 and replaced the previous vehicles, the BTR-60 and BTR-70, in the Soviet Army. It was first deployed during the Soviet–Afghan War.
The FV721 Fox Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (Wheeled) (CVR(W)) was a 4 × 4 armoured car manufactured by ROF Leeds, deployed by the British Army as a replacement for the Ferret scout car and the Saladin armoured car. The Fox was introduced into service with B Squadron, 1st Royal Tank Regiment (Aliwal Barracks, Tidworth) in 1975 and withdrawn from service 1993–94.
The Austin armoured car was a British armoured car produced during the First World War. The vehicle is best known for its employment by the Imperial Russian Army in the First World War and by different forces in the Russian Civil War.
A huge number of M113 armored personnel carrier variants have been created, ranging from infantry carriers to nuclear missile carriers. The M113 armored personnel carrier has become one of the most prolific armored vehicles of the second half of the 20th century, and continues to serve with armies around the world in many roles.
The Simba is a wheeled armoured personnel carrier designed by GKN Sankey. It is currently in service with the Philippine Army.
During the First World War, sixteen American Peerless trucks were modified by the British to serve as armoured cars. These were relatively primitive designs with open backs, armed with a Pom-pom gun and a machine gun, and were delivered to the British Army in 1915. They were used also by the Imperial Russian Army as self-propelled anti-aircraft guns.
The OT-62 TOPAS is a series of amphibious tracked armoured personnel carriers developed jointly by Polish People's Republic and Czechoslovakia (ČSSR). OT-62 stands for Obrněný Transportér vzor 62 – "armoured personnel carrier model 62". TOPAS stands for Transportér Obrněný Pásový – "tracked armoured personnel carrier".
The Type 85 is a tracked armoured fighting vehicle produced by Chinese company Norinco. It is an improved version of the Type 63 armoured personnel carrier. The vehicle is bigger, has additional firing ports and periscopes, a longer chassis with an additional road wheel on each side, and is equipped with an NBC protection system.
The Panther KF51 is a German main battle tank (MBT) that is under development by Rheinmetall Landsysteme. It was unveiled publicly at the Eurosatory defence exhibition on 13 June 2022.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)