The Paladin was created by Quickcell Industires in response to a request by the LCAF in 3020 for a fast hover artillery unit to rpovide light recon units a means of artillery support when in contact.
The RFP stipulated that the vehicle had to have a top end speed of at least 96kph and be able to provide a "meaningful" ammount of artillery support. It also had to do it for less than 1.5 million per unit cost.
Quickcell, by cutting a few corners, and ripping the guts out of a Maxim and redesigning it from the ground up, managed to fit a Sniper and 20 rounds of ammunition into the vehicle, while making it a faster vehicle. The Paladin was born.

The Paladin lives up to the requirement set before it by the LCAF, but it comes at a price, it's armor. Simply put, anything larger than a medium laser hitting the vehicle would be fatal. It was a tradeoff that the hover recon units of the LCAF accepted with gusto, as they realized that a 4 vehicle battery of these at Battalion HQ would be able to delay any sort of pursuit or get them out of trouble almost as fast as they got into it.

The Mk 2, was designed in 3053 in a response to the ever-changing technolgical situation in the Inner Sphere. The Arrow IV launcher was becomeing more and more widespread in Inner Sphere armies and the AFFC requested that Quickcell find a way to incorporate the Arrow IV into the design. Quickcell complied, and in a record 15 months, managed to retrofit the Arrow IV into the old Sniper mount in the turret.
Furthermore, room was found for a pair of Small Lasers to put into the rear of the vehicle to help deter pursuit.
The Mk2 has met with sucess, and can be found all throughout Fedcom space.

The Paladin today is found all throughout Lyran space with both regular and mercenary units, and a few can be found in Davion space as well, with a unit of 4 with the 3rd Ceti Hussars.