The Saunders-Roe (Saro) P.531 had made its first flight on the 20th of July 1958, & was powered by a 400shp (298 kW) Blackburn (Turboméca) Turmo 603 turboshaft. A year later, Westland absorbed Saunders-Roe, & continued with the  development of the P.531. The Royal Navy & British Army showed interest in the project very early on, & these two prospective customer's requirements influenced the development of the aircraft. The first army version was the P.531-2 Mk1, which was basically a pre-production aircraft. It flew in August 1960, & performed so successfully that the British Army placed an order a month later for the Scout AH.Mk1, the only difference between the AH.Mk1 & the P.531-2 Mk1 being powered controls. The AH.Mk1 flew in March 1961, & started to enter service in 1963, replacing the Saunders-Roe Skeeter.

Production of the AH.Mk1 amounted to 160 aircraft, all of which had skid landing gear, the Nimbus 101 or 102 turboshaft & a five or six seat cabin. The Scout could also carry a multitude of external loads, including two side-mounted pods containing litters & a variety of weapons, including ATGWs, ATMs & other missiles. The rear bench in the cabin can also be removed to accommodate two additional litters.

The Scout has operated in a variety of roles, including close-support, light transport, liaison, communication, SAR, training, medevac & reconnaissance roles. This versatility has attracted several export customers (Jordan, Bahrain, Australia & Uganda), although each customer only ordered small numbers of the Scout. The last AH.Mk1s were retired from service with the British Army in 1994.

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