Saxon (vehicle)

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Saxon
GKN Saxon AT105 of the Hong Kong Police. The recording was made in 2006.

GKN Saxon AT105 of the Hong Kong Police . The recording was made in 2006.
General properties
crew 2 + 10
length 5.17 m
width 2.49 m
height 2.63 m
Dimensions 10.6 t
Armor and armament
Armor steel
Main armament Machine guns of the 7.62 mm caliber
Secondary armament no
agility
drive Bedford 500 six-cylinder diesel engine
164 hp (122 kW)
suspension Suspension 4 × 4
Top speed 96 km / h
Power / weight
Range 510 km

The Saxon is a lightly armored 4 × 4 personnel carrier from British production. The vehicle is used in various forms in a large number of countries. In addition to the original conception as an armored personnel carrier, it fulfills various functions depending on the variant.

draft

The Saxon was intended to function as an inexpensive but efficient battle taxi for British units which, in an emergency, would have had to be relocated from Great Britain to reinforce the British Army on the Rhine . It was manufactured on the basis of a revised 4 × 4 chassis from the Bedford M series and other commercially available components. As a light armored vehicle , it is - especially on the road - much faster and also easier to maintain than tracked vehicles . The Saxon is only adequately protected against small arms fire and shrapnel . The vehicle has a 7.62-mm - machine gun for air defense. The vehicle hull of the Saxon is made of welded steel with a V-shaped underbody plate to protect against mine explosions. There is space in the rear for a maximum of ten people. On the roof there is a storage space for the equipment.

Use and export

AT-105 Saxon of the Ukrainian Army (2016)

The first operational Saxons were deployed in Germany in 1983 by the British Army . Meanwhile, Saxons are no longer produced; they were retired from the service of the British armed forces. 147 pieces were stored in the 2000s. The Saxons were deployed in Bahrain , Brunei , Bosnia , Malaysia , Oman , Iraq and Afghanistan , among others .

The vehicle was exported to a large number of countries, such as Bahrain , the Congo , Iraq , Jordan , Malaysia and Mozambique . However, the export of 75 Saxons to Ukraine caused a stir . Allegedly, the deal was initiated in 2013 - before the war in Donbass . The former Commander in Chief of the British Land Forces, Richard Dannatt , also stated that the delivery of the vehicles to Ukraine was "immoral" as they were "useless" in a conflict of this intensity.

variants

  • AT105A: ambulance
  • AT105E: With a turret with one or two machine guns
  • AT105MR: With an 82mm mortar
  • AT105C: command car
  • ARV : recovery vehicle

Web links

Commons : AT105 Saxon  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Saxon . Military Today. Archived from the original on January 13, 2013.
  2. ↑ AT 105 SAXON
  3. ↑ http://armstrade.sipri.org/armstrade/page/trade_register.php
  4. ↑ Eastern Ukraine ceasefire in doubt as pro-Kiev forces report 120 attacks