The Saladin is the last of the medium hover tank line released by Scarborough,Ltd. While the other two tanks, the Saracen and the Scimitar, were attack vehicles, the Saladin was designed to be a defensive vehicle. Instead of mounting a variety of weapons systems like its predecessors,   it mounts only one weapon: a heavy autocannon.
         At first, Scarborough buyers were skeptical about the Saladin. They were expecting something that could replace and compliment the Scimitar and the Saracen. Only by offering incentives, such as free delivery and training for vehicle crews, did the Scarborough sales teams convince customers to buy the Saladin. No arms buyer in the Inner Sphere could resist having their logistics done for them at no cost, and free training certainly would not hurt. The Saladin sold almost as well as the Saracen did.

         Like its predecessors, the Saladin is a very fast hovercraft. By the time it was produced, Scarborough, Ltd. had developed several improvements to its hover systems, such as operating without hovercraft skirts. Although the Saladin lacks the greater part of skirtless hovercraft technology, it still has some advanced   internal systems. The driver's compartment has many innovations, including a power boost that allows the Saladin to traverse rocky terrain easier   than normal hovercraft can.
         Unlike the other two Scarborough hovercraft, the Saladin does not have a turret and only carries one weapon. The project design engineers used the same chassis as the other two hovercraft and even kept the majority of the internal components, including the engine. The main design criteria was to use the newly developed Scarborough Original 20 Autocannon, the heaviest weapon feasible for combat vehicles. To compensate for the increased weapon weight, the turret and some armor were removed from the original chassis, and the autocannon was mounted in a static assult gun mount.
         The Scarborough Original 20 Autocannon is equivalent to 200mm autocannons produced by other companies. Although it experienced some developmental problems, it does inflict massive amounts of damage, enabling the Saladin to cripple or kill a light or medium 'Mech. Saladins are used differently from most tanks because the main weapon is mounted forward, and not in a turret. A Saladin will either move towards the enemy, shoot, pass the enemy, and turn around for another pass,   or it will stand and face the enemy, firing as they come forward. Often the most acceptable tactic is a combination of both.
         The heaviest armor on the Saladin is placed forward, allowing it to take substatial frontal damage and still keep operating. Armor on the sides and rear was kept to a minimum in order to increase its front armor.

         Bandit Kings favor using vehicles in raids because they generally have more vehicles than 'Mechs, and most would rather risk   vehicles than 'Mechs. When Emerson Winchester, operating out of the   Marion Hegemony, desperately needed 'Mech parts, he planned to raid the Marik planet Lesnovo using five Saladin hover tanks captured in his last raid. Days later, a Winchester JumpShip moved into Marik space.
         When the JumpShip reached Lesnovo's jump point, the attack force dropped on the dark side of the planet. The Saladins moved quickly toward the supply base. Upon finding his target, the raid commander ordered his tanks to close, attack the defense forces, load the parts, and get out.
         The defence force consisted of two light 'Mechs: a Stinger and a Locust. The Saladins readily disabled the Stinger, but the Locust was difficult to kill because it could move as fast as the Saladins. Eventually, however, the Locust was destroyed, and the raiders took the parts.
         Unfortunately, the province's garrison force dicovered the Raider's JumpShip in the system. Although observing the sanctity of the JumpShip,   the Marik forces captured the DropShip, retrieved the parts, and executed the pirates. Tapes of the groundside skirmish were sent to Scarborough,Ltd. so that the Saladin designers could see how   well their new vehicle performed in combat. The leader of the Marik force was paid handsomely for the safe retrieval of the tapes.

         The Saladin's weight and chassis size makes it difficult to alter. Troops that dislike the Saladin's   narrow combat role use one of the other Scarborough Ltd. medium hovertanks rather than   modifying the Saladin.

Johann Eggar, Stanislov Cherenkov, and Joe Smith.

         These three crewmem are the only soldiers in recorded history to have lost over 30 vehicles in combat. They do not lose them because they are incompetent, however, but because they always recieve the most difficult, and sometimes, suicidal   missions. They always name their vehicle "Bertha." So far they have gone through three Manticores, one Behemoth, eight Hetzers, and 22 Saladins.