Alvis Sabre Combat Reconissance Vehicle (Tracked)
This vehicle was originally built as an Alvis Scorpion, a light reconissance tank with a 76mm gun. It is built of aluminium armour and due to its light weight is very fast for a tracked vehicle. It also has special high speed tracks with inset rubber blocks to minimise noise. The Scorpion though was phased out of service some time ago as was the Alvis Fox (a wheeled reconissance vehicle with a turret with a 30mm Rardon cannon). This left a stock of redundant vehicles. At the time and indeed currently there is another varient known as the Scimitar. This had a Scorpion hull and turret but was fitted with a 30mm Rardon cannon from the Fox. This varient was considered superior to the Scorpion with it's 76mm gun and to create more of this type of vehicle the Sabre was created. The Sabre is a refurbised Scorpion hull fitted with a refurbished turret from a Fox. Several other modifications were made such as the addition of external stowage bins and moving the headlight location. The in service date for this vehicle is 1981, although when it became a Sabre is unclear. In 2003 around 136 Sabres were still in use by Armoured and Mechanised Infantry battalions by their forward reconissance platoons, usually 8 per batallion. All the Sabres have been disposed of now, replaced by Scimitars (which itself has been converted to Cummins Diesel power) but which in operational terms is almost an identical vehicle.