M8 armored gun system

The M8 armored gun system (AGS), sometimes known as the Buford, is an American <a href="/facts/Light_tank/9E5NwqS2">light tank</a> that was intended to replace the <a href="/facts/M551_Sheridan/w2uarVr6">M551 Sheridan</a> and <a href="/facts/TOW_missile/90uNdkCr">TOW missile</a>-armed <a href="/facts/Humvee/U5huMQSr">Humvees</a> in the <a href="/facts/82nd_Airborne_Division/yogXVojt">82nd Airborne Division</a> and <a href="/facts/2nd_Armored_Cavalry_Regiment/djEk1YPJ">2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment</a> (2nd ACR) of the <a href="/facts/U.S._Army/WACWBEK9">U.S. Army</a> respectively.
The M8 AGS began as a private venture of <a href="/facts/FMC_Corporation/QkuUlcLt">FMC Corporation</a>, called the close combat vehicle light (CCVL), in 1983. The Army began the armored gun system program to develop a mobile gun platform that could be <a href="/facts/Airdrop/LsWJmyFg">airdropped</a>. By 1992, the AGS was one of the Army's top priority acquisition programs. The service selected FMC's CCVL over proposals from three other teams. The service sought to purchase 237 AGS systems to begin fielding in 1997. Key characteristics of the AGS are its light weight (17.8 short tons (16.1 t) in its <a href="/facts/Low-velocity_airdrop/LsWJmyFg">low-velocity airdrop</a> configuration), field-installable <a href="/facts/Modular_armor/vz5Js71F">modular armor</a>, <a href="/facts/M35_tank_gun/gs2kpb20">M35</a> <a href="/facts/105_mm_caliber/2osze2ll">105 mm caliber</a> soft recoil rifled gun, 21-round magazined <a href="/facts/Autoloader/4M7TDTHo">autoloader</a>, and slide-out powerpack.
Though it had authorized the start of production of the <a href="/facts/Army_Nomenclature_System/SgQn6lLW">type classified</a> M8 a year earlier, the Army canceled the AGS program in 1996 due to the service's budgetary constraints. The Sheridan was retired without a true successor. The AGS never saw service, though the 82nd Airborne sought to press the preproduction units into service in Iraq. The AGS was unsuccessfully marketed for export and was reincarnated for several subsequent U.S. Army <a href="/facts/Assault_gun/epmXeo2S">assault gun</a>/light tank programs. <a href="/facts/United_Defense/BGS1V8bN">United Defense LP</a> proposed the AGS as the Mobile Gun System (MGS) variant of the <a href="/facts/Interim_Armored_Vehicle/Ac509HET">Interim Armored Vehicle</a> program in 2000, but lost out to the <a href="/facts/General_Motors/rBgP3IRK">General Motors</a>–General Dynamics' <a href="/facts/LAV_III/LHnUlnvN">LAV III</a>, which was type classified as the <a href="/facts/Stryker/Ac509HET">Stryker</a> <a href="/facts/M1128_mobile_gun_system/7az3CDSt">M1128 mobile gun system</a>. <a href="/facts/BAE_Systems/W1wLXh5x">BAE Systems</a> offered the AGS system for the Army's XM1302 <a href="/facts/Mobile_Protected_Firepower/jgpverzl">Mobile Protected Firepower</a> requirement, but lost to the <a href="/facts/General_Dynamics_Griffin/bBEdyECU">General Dynamics Griffin II</a>—later type classified as the <a href="/facts/M10_Booker/xB8DDc6p">M10 Booker</a>—in 2022.

M8 armored gun system open-in-new

M8 armored gun system