The Saxon is an

armoured personnel carrier An armoured personnel carrier (APC) is a broad type of armoured military vehicle designed to transport personnel and equipment in combat zones. Since World War I, APCs have become a very common piece of military equipment around the world. Acc ...

formerly used by the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

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 Future Rapid Effect System (FRES) was the name for the British Ministry of Defence (MOD) programme to deliver a fleet of more than 4,000 armoured fighting vehicles for the British Army. The vehicles were to be rapidly deployable, network-en ...

History

The British Army initially ordered a batch of 47 vehicles in early 1983, with first deliveries taking place in early 1984. 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. The

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

ordered 30 Saxons for use as command post vehicles armed with

Rapier missile Rapier is a surface-to-air missile developed for the British Army to replace their towed Bofors 40/L70 anti-aircraft guns. The system is unusual as it uses a manual optical guidance system, sending guidance commands to the missile in flight over ...

s. These vehicles were all delivered in early 1987. 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. The first operational Saxons were deployed in Germany in 1983, to equip

mechanised infantry Mechanized infantry are infantry units equipped with Armoured personnel carrier, armored personnel carriers (APCs) or infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) for transport and combat (see also armoured corps). As defined by the United States Army, me ...

battalions. The Saxon has now been withdrawn from service in

HM Armed Forces The British Armed Forces are the unified military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests, support international peacekeeping ef ...

, but 147 are kept in storage. The Saxon has been deployed to places such as

Bahrain Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...

Brunei Brunei, officially Brunei Darussalam, is a country in Southeast Asia, situated on the northern coast of the island of Borneo. Apart from its coastline on the South China Sea, it is completely surrounded by the Malaysian state of Sarawak, with ...

Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

Oman Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman’s coastline ...

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

and

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

. Seven Saxons were ordered by the

Royal Hong Kong Police The history of the Hong Kong Police originates in 1841, when the Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) was officially established by the British colonial government, the same year that the British Empire, British had settled in Hong Kong. While change ...

from GKN Sankey in 1987 and delivered in 1988 where they replaced 15

Saracens file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century History of Germany, German woodcut depicting Saracens ''Saracen'' ( ) was a term used both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings between the 5th and 15th centuries to ...

. They were assigned to the

Police Tactical Unit A police tactical unit (PTU) is a specialized police unit trained and equipped to handle situations that are beyond the capabilities of ordinary law enforcement units because of the level of violence (or risk of violence) involved. The tasks of a ...

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. 75 Saxons were sold to Ukraine reportedly under a contract made in 2013, i.e. predating the start of the

Russo-Ukrainian War The Russo-Ukrainian War began in February 2014 and is ongoing. Following Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity, Russia Russian occupation of Crimea, occupied and Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, annexed Crimea from Ukraine. It then ...

. The Ukrainian military announced the deal on 5 December 2014. The former chief commander of British land forces,

Richard Dannatt General (United Kingdom), General Francis Richard Dannatt, Baron Dannatt, (born 23 December 1950) is a retired senior British Army officer and member of the House of Lords. He was Chief of the General Staff (United Kingdom), Chief of the Gener ...

, said that supplying the vehicles to Ukraine was "immoral" as they were "useless" in high intensity warfare. Most of them were outfitted with DShK and dual PK GPMGs. In Ukrainian service, the type has seen combat against Russian forces during the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

. 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. 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

MRAP Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicle (MRAPV), also known as MRAP vehicle, is a type of armoured personnel carrier that is designed specifically to withstand land mines, improvised explosive device (IED) attacks, and ambushes to save troops' li ...

s provided by the United Kingdom and other allied nations.

Design

The Saxon was developed by GKN Defence (now

BAE Systems BAE Systems plc is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Aerospace industry, aerospace, military technology, military and information security company, based in London. It is the largest manufacturer in Britain as of 2017. It is ...

) as the successor of the AT104. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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 thick thermal insulation and a forced air circulation system was installed by default on all vehicles. The armoured hull provides protection against small arms including 7.62 mm armour-piercing rounds, and high-explosive shell fragments up to bursting at 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. 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 A general-purpose machine gun (GPMG) is an air-cooled, usually belt-fed machine gun that can be adapted flexibly to various tactical roles for light and medium machine guns. A GPMG typically features a quick-change barrel design calibered fo ...

mount, no door on the left side of the vehicle, and fully enclosed external stowage bins. A total of 515 vehicles were fitted with L8 66 mm smoke grenade launchers.

Variants

* Saxon LHD armoured personnel carrier - This variant is fitted with a turret armed with a single or twin 7.62 mm GPMG, with an elevation of 50° and a depression of −15°. It can also be used to deploy and operate remote controlled vehicles for

bomb disposal Bomb disposal is an explosives engineering profession using the process by which hazardous explosive devices are disabled or otherwise rendered safe. ''Bomb disposal'' is an all-encompassing term to describe the separate, but interrelated fun ...

duties. The

Jordan Design and Development Bureau The Jordan Design and Development Bureau (JODDB) is a Jordanian defence company. The company was established by Royal Decree as King Abdullah Design and Development Bureau (KADDB) on 24 August 1999 to provide an indigenous capability for the s ...

(KADDB) was involved in the conversion from right-hand drive to left-hand drive with the first working models presented in 2010. * Saxon command vehicle - Can be fitted with a turret armed with a single or twin 7.62 mm GPMGs or a .50 (12.7 mm)

M2HB The M2 machine gun or Browning .50-caliber machine gun (informally, "Ma Deuce") is a heavy machine gun that was designed near the end of World War I by John Browning. While similar to Browning's M1919 Browning machine gun, which was chambered ...

heavy machine gun. The interior features individual communication control modules, a mapboard with strip lighting, and a storage space. * Saxon recovery vehicle - Features a Hudson Wharton capstan hydraulic winch that can lift vehicles weighing up with the help of a block and tackle. In British service it was normally operated by a crew of four. A tent can be erected at the rear so repair work can be carried on in all weathers if required. Standard equipment includes tools, a spotlight, Scotch lorry skid pads and a front and rear differential lock. *Ambulance - The interior is modified to enable two general service stretchers to be carried on each side of the vehicle, or one patient on a stretcher plus five walking wounded. The crew consists of the commander, driver, and a medical orderly. *Incident control vehicle- A Saxon fitted with a front-mounted obstacle-clearing blade, cage armour, a turret armed with a machine gun and smoke grenade launchers, and a low light TV surveillance system featuring a telescopic mount on the rear of the vehicle. *Saxon EOD - Specialized vehicle for bomb disposal. *Saxon Patrol - The final version of the Saxon to enter service with the British Army, it was used in Northern Ireland. Improvements include replacing the Bedford 6-cylinder diesel with a Cummins 6BT 6-cylinder turbocharged diesel engine, a fully automatic transmission that can use a 4×4 or 4×2 drive depending on the tactical situation. Other improvements include barricade removal devices, roof-mounted searchlights, cage armour, a revised cowl for the armoured radiator cover, improved armour, and an upgraded braking system with run-flat tyres fitted as standard.

Operators

Current operators

* − 28 as of 2024 * − 4+ as of 2024 * − Reportedly still in use by the

gendarmerie A gendarmerie () is a paramilitary or military force with law enforcement duties among the civilian population. The term ''gendarme'' () is derived from the medieval French expression ', which translates to " men-at-arms" (). In France and so ...

as of 2024 * − 44, Used by the

General Operations Force The General Operations Force (GOF; ; PGA, Jawi: ) serves as the light infantry arm of the Royal Malaysia Police. It was originally established in 1948 during the Malayan Emergency by the British colonial administration. At that time, the poli ...

as of 2024 * − 25 as of 2024 * − 70+ as of 2024, serviceability doubtful * − 15 as of 2024 * − 25+ as of 2024 * − Ukraine's Ministry of Defense has purchased 75 second-hand vehicles, which have been delivered in two shipments in 2015

Former operators

* − 10 in 2011 * − 7 delivered to the

Hong Kong Police Force The Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) is the primary law enforcement, investigative agency, and largest Hong Kong Disciplined Services, disciplined service under the Security Bureau (Hong Kong), Security Bureau of Hong Kong. Pursuant to the one c ...

in 1988. All retired in 2009 and replaced by Unimog U5000s * − 60 delivered in 2007 * − 4 second-hand vehicles delivered in 2016 for use with

MINUSMA The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (, MINUSMA) was a United Nations peacekeeping mission in Mali. MINUSMA was established on 25 April 2013 by United Nations Security Council Resolution 2100 to stabilise ...

* − 4 second-hand vehicles were delivered in 2016 via France for United Nations operation in the Central African Republic * − 180 in service with the

in 2011. All were taken out of service in 2012, with some donated to other nations

Non-State Actors

* Donetsk People's Republic - Some of the captured Saxons used by DPR forces.

References

Bibliography

*''Armed Forces of the United Kingdom'', Charles Heyman. Leo Cooper, 2003. * * {{Modern IFV and APC Armoured personnel carriers of the United Kingdom Internal security vehicles Military vehicles introduced in the 1980s Armoured personnel carriers of the Cold War Wheeled armoured personnel carriers