M8 armored gun system
The M8 armored gun system, incorrectly cited as the Buford, is an American light tank that was intended to replace the M551 Sheridan and TOW missile-armed Humvees in the 82nd Airborne Division and 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment of the U.S. Army respectively.
The M8 AGS began as a private venture of FMC Corporation, called the close combat vehicle light, in 1983. The Army began the armored gun system program to develop a mobile gun platform that could be airdropped. 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, field-installable modular armor, M35 105 mm caliber soft recoil rifled gun, 21-round magazine autoloader, and slide-out powerpack.
Though it had authorized the start of production of the type classified 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 assault gun/light tank programs. United Defense LP proposed the AGS as the Mobile Gun System variant of the Interim Armored Vehicle program in 2000, but lost out to the General Motors–General Dynamics' LAV III, which was type classified as the Stryker M1128 mobile gun system. BAE Systems offered the AGS system for the Army's XM1302 Mobile Protected Firepower requirement, but lost to the General Dynamics Griffin II—later type classified as the M10 Booker—in 2022.
Development
The U.S. Army recognized the poor performance of the M551 Sheridan light tank in the Vietnam War and began the process of retiring the vehicle in 1977. A small number of Sheridans were retained in active service by the 82nd Airborne Division and the National Guard. The Army designated the M3 Bradley armored reconnaissance vehicle to partially fill the Sheridan's role.Initial efforts
In the 1980s, the Army began looking for a more capable replacement for the Sheridan. During this time, a string of Army projects to update or replace the Sheridan were begun, but all ended without the Army committing to buy. Some of its efforts around this time could be described as hopelessly intermingled.In 1979, Army Chief of Staff General Edward C. Meyer initiated a transformation of the 9th Infantry Division that would see the light infantry division assume many of the characteristics of the heavy division through an infusion of high or emerging technology. The so-called "High Technology Light Division" would require the procurement of a Mobile Protected Gun, later called the Assault Gun System, and a Fast Attack Vehicle. The notional Mobile Protected Gun was to be armed with a kinetic gun, or possibly a missile, capable of defeating enemy armor.
The lack of a production-ready assault gun was one of the key problems in the development of the division. Originally conceived to be a wheeled light armored vehicle armed with a hypervelocity missile as its major tank-killing system. In 1980, the U.S. Army Infantry School's Mobile Protected Gun project analyzed anti-armor weapons systems, concluding that the Army should equip its new light infantry divisions with TOW-armed Humvees and an unspecified 6×6 lightly armored vehicle armed with a 25 mm caliber gun. This led the Secretary of Defense to direct the Army to use the LAV-25 for this purpose. In 1981, the Army joined the Marine Corps's Mobile Protected Weapon System program, which then became known as the Mobile Protected Gun System. However due to differing requirements, the Army and USMC ended their partnership the following year to embark on separate programs.
The Army and Marine Corps were at the same time also involved in the joint LAV program. At the time, the Army planned to acquire 175 LAV-25s to fully equip the 9th Infantry Division. These interim MPGS's would be armed with a M242 Bushmaster 25 mm cannon, with seating for the passengers replaced with ammunition racks. The Army planned to incorporate the LAV in the 9th Infantry Division as an interim armored gun system. The Army planned to replace this LAV beginning in the late 1980s with the "far-term" MPGS armed with a 75 mm gun. The Army's commitment to the program wavered somewhat, which caused Congress to withhold money for the LAV. The Army withdrew from the LAV program in December 1983.
File:Navy Surface Weapons Center Sheridan with 105mm caliber gun.jpg|thumb|left|A Navy Surface Weapons Center M551 Sheridan mounting a 105 mm caliber gun in 1983
Modernization of the Sheridan was also studied by the Infantry School. The chassis of the Sheridan was considered to be in good working order even if its problematic 152 mm caliber gun/launcher was not. Both the Marine Corps and Army explored re-gunning the Sheridan with a conventional gun. In 1983, the Navy Surface Weapons Center mounted a 105 mm cannon to a Sheridan. One Army plan also envisioned re-gunning 120 Sheridans with 105 mm or 120 mm cannons, but this project was canceled in 1985. In any event the Army determined upgrading the Sheridan to meet the AGS requirement was not worth pursuing.
The U.S. Army determined that it needed a more immediate solution for the AGS requirement. In 1985, the Army approved a U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command recommendation to field the TOW missile-armed Humvee in the interim. The TOW-armed Humvee proved to be an inadequate substitute for the AGS in the 9th Infantry Division as it could not fire on the move and was too lightly armored.
By 1983 the Armor School had come to support an Assault Gun. Instead of wheeled, it would be a tracked, lightweight, highly agile kinetic energy gun capable of killing enemy tanks and shielded by sufficient armor to protection the crew from artillery and small caliber weapons. The system had to be light enough to fly in a C-130 aircraft. After the Army and Marine Corps parted ways on MPGS, the project morphed into the Armored/Assault Gun System. In 1983, the Army established the AGS program, sometimes called XM4. In 1985, Army Vice Chief of Staff General Maxwell R. Thurman approved an amended requirement operational capability for the AGS. Thurman's recommendation that the Army purchase 500 AGS systems went to Army Chief of Staff John A. Wickham Jr.. The Abrams competed with the AGS for funding. Wickham and Thurman, backed by TRADOC, chose the Abrams, and did not advocate for the program in Congress. Senate appropriators declined the Army's request for AGS funds for FY1986. The program office was disestablished, and the ROC retracted. In May 1986, the AGS program was re-organized under the Armored Family of Vehicles Task Force. During one concept study for a proposed All Purpose Fire Support Platoon, the task force shortlisted four candidate vehicles for an Armored Support Platform. These were the FMC Corporation CCVL, the Cadillac Gage Stingray, the General Motors LAV-105, and the Teledyne AGS. The task force recommended the latter.
In August 1987, the Office of the Secretary of Defense approved the AGS program initiative for 600 vehicles—166 for the 9th Infantry Division, 54 for the 82d Airborne Division, 217 for reserve component Tow Light Anti-tank Battalions and 163 for war reserves and floats. A joint Army–Marine Corps program was mooted. The ROC was approved for the second time in September. In December, the AGS program was dropped as the $800 million plan was considered unaffordable. Around the same time, the Army Chief of Staff Carl E. Vuono issued a "promissory note" to replace the Sheridan by FY1995.
Rebooted program
In September 1989, the Armored Gun System Project Manager office was reestablished at the United States Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command and a marketing survey was distributed to industry. In March 1990, Vuono told the Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee that the Army was surveying options for acquiring about 70 tanks to replace the Sheridan. The Army formalized the AGS program in April 1990 with the validation of a new ROC. An AGS "rodeo" was held in July 1990 at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, with representative systems submitted from prospective contractors.In July 1990, the Senate Armed Services Committee required that the Army procure the AGS off-the-shelf. In August, SASC directed the Army to halt work on Armored Systems Modernization until it could conduct a competition for an AGS. The AGS program had gained political favor by this point due in part to the back-to-back successful employment of the Sheridan in two overseas operations. In December 1989, Sheridans of the 3/73 Armor, 82d Airborne Division, were airdropped into Panama as part of Operation Just Cause. This was the first successful employment of light armor in combat. In August 1990, Sheridans were airdropped into Saudi Arabia as the spearhead of the buildup of Operation Desert Shield. In October 1990, HASC deferred the Block III main battle tank and directed the Army to make the AGS its top priority modernization program. After having earlier tried to kill the tank, appropriators grew to appreciate the program's relatively low price tag.
In November 1990, the Defense Acquisition Board authorized the Army to proceed with the development of the AGS. The Army believed that replacing the Sheridan with an off-the-shelf AGS would be less expensive and provide more capabilities than an upgraded Sheridan. It was expected to replace the Sheridan in the 3/73rd Armor and TOW missile-armed Humvees in the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment.
In November 1990, Congressional appropriators sought for the Army to utilize the Marine Corps's developmental LAV-105 for the AGS role or "show clear and convincing evidence that the LAV-105 is unable to fulfill the requirement". The Army agreed. In 1991, the Senate and House Armed Services Committees joined in directing the Army to integrate the turret and Watervliet Arsenal EX35 gun of the LAV-105 with an AGS chassis. A joint program was balked at by both services, who believed the two platforms were mismatched. Subsequently, the Marine Corps demurred and requested no further funding for the LAV-105. In any event, the proposed chimera was nixed by the Senate Appropriations Committee later that year.
The Army issued a draft request for proposals in May 1991. The Army published the RfP in August incorporating changes as a result of feedback from industry and Congress, the latter of which had directed the Army to require the EX35 gun. Army Acquisition Executive Stephen K. Conver became concerned that the AGS program was becoming laden with unnecessary requirements that would increase costs and development time, as well as limit the number of interested contractors. In view of this, in October 1991, Conver's office conducted a review of the requirements. The Army updated its RfP later that year, with submissions due in December.
The final RfP specified two configurations of the AGS: One intended for airborne forces, and another intended for other rapid deployment light forces.
FMC Corporation submitted the CCVL to meet the AGS requirement. Three other teams submitted proposals:
- General Dynamics Land Systems and Teledyne Continental Motors submitted a version of the Teledyne tank included in the AFVTV study. GDLS's design was unconventional with the powerpack mounted in the front, and an externally mounted cannon. The crew was located in the turret basket below the hull line.
- Cadillac Gage Textron submitted the Commando Stingray with the LAV-105 turret.
- Team Hägglunds USA submitted a variant of the Combat Vehicle 90 with a GIAT turret. This was the only version proposed without an autoloader. Series production would take place in Canada.
In June 1992, the Army selected the FMC proposal. FMC Ground Systems Division was awarded a $27.7 million contract to begin phase 1 work, including the production of six test units. The bids for this phase ranged from a high of $189 million for GDLS–Teledyne and a low of $92 million for Hägglunds. The procurement program was valued at $800 million.