The Saxon wheeled APC was developed by GNK Defence to provide a relatively low cost armored personnel carrier for the British Army. It was an economical supplement to the much more sophisticated and expensive Warrior tracked infantry fighting vehicle. The Saxon is a very basic infantry carrier. It is based on a revised Bedford M series 4×4 truck chassis and other commercially available components such as the engine and transmission. Developed from the earlier and less protected AT104, the base model was the AT105 which later became the Saxon before being ordered by the British Army in 1983 to provide United Kingdom-based infantry battalions to travel to North-West Europe in an emergency and still retain a measure of operational protection and mobility once arrived.
The Saxon is thus basically an armored truck with limited cross country mobility but still capable of operating in forward areas.
The hull is of welded steel construction. Vehicle provides all-round protection αɢαιиѕт 7.62 mm armor-piercing rounds. The hull has a V-shaped under-chassis plate to deflect мιиє detonations.
Seating is provided in the rear for up to ten troops, although eight is a more comfortable load if all their equipment is included – there is an equipment stowage area on the hull roof. Two doors are provided, one each side, plus another at the rear. The commander has a fixed cupola over which a 7.62 mm machine gun can be mounted on an unprotected pintle, although some Saxons operating in the former Yugoslavia were modified by the Army to accommodate small one-mall machine gun turrets taken from old FV432 APCs.
British Army Saxon variants include a recovery vehicle with a side-mounted winch, and a command vehicle, some of which are operated by Royal Artillery air defense regiments. Special Saxons procured for operations in Northern Ireland include the Saxon Patrol whit a Cummins 160 hp diesel engine and a special internal security equipment such as a barricade removal device and spotlights; there is also a Northern Ireland armored ambulance.
Other Saxon variants, some of which have been exported to nations such as Bahrein, Hong Kong, Oman, Malaysia and Nigeria, were usually configured as an internal security vehicles.
British Army Saxons were retired in 2008. Since 2014 a number of refurbished APCs have been delivered to Ukraine. It was planned that 75 of these APCs will be delivered. These armored vehicles saw action during the military ¢σиƒℓι¢т in Ukraine.