The Romanian 8×8 Saur 1 Armoured Personnel Carrier (Saur 2 is a prototype), formally known as the Zimbru 2006, is an 8×8 amphibious Armoured Infantry Fighting developed by Romanian firm ROMARM to meet an urgent requirement of the Romanian Armed Forces who have been involved in Security efforts in both Iraq and Afghanistan, who eventually ordered Swiss Piranha IIIC vehicles instead.
The Romanian 8×8 Saur 1 Armoured Personnel Carrier Description
The hull of the Saur 1 is of all-welded steel which provides the occupants with protection from small arms fire and shell splinters.
the driver’s position towards the front on the left and the power pack to the right. The engine is unspecified, but reported to give a top road speed of 100km/h.
The Main Gun is a 7.52mm belt-fed MG (can be re-equipped with a 30mm auto-cannon).
The Saur 1 was first unveiled at Expomil 2007. A new improved version, the Saur 2 was unveiled at the Black Sea Defence & Aerospace (BSDA 2008) exhibition held in Bucharest in 2008. The Saur 2 has a redesigned nose section and is fitted with a new engine and bigger wheels.