Not to be confused with Howitzer Motor Carriage M8.
M8 Armored Gun System
M8 AGS
Type
Light tank[nb 1]
Place of origin
United States
Production history
Designer
FMC Corporation/United Defense LP/BAE Systems
Designed
From 1983
Manufacturer
FMC/United Defense/BAE Systems
Produced
1995, 2020
No. built
6 AGS pilots, 1 austere prototype, ≥11 MPF[nb 2]
Specifications (M8 AGS)
Mass
36,900 to 39,800 lb (16,740 to 18,050 kg) (level 1 armor)[6][7] 44,000 to 44,270 lb (19,960 to 20,080 kg) (level 2)[6][8] 52,000 lb (23,590 kg) (level 3)[6]
Length
261 in (6.64 m) (level 1 hull + gun forward), 242 in (6.14 m) (level 1 hull only)[6]
Width
104 in (2.64 m) (over fenders)
Height
100 to 101 in (2.54 to 2.57 m) (over cupola)
Crew
3 (commander, gunner, driver)
Elevation
+20° / -10° (depression limited over rear arc)
Armor
Welded 5083 aluminum alloy
Main armament
M35 105 mm caliber soft recoil rifled gun (31 rounds)
Detroit Diesel 6V 92TA 550 hp (410 kW) at 2,400 rpm (JP-8 fuel), 580 hp (430 kW) at 2,400 rpm (diesel)[6]
Power/weight
28.3 hp/ST (23.3 kW/t) (Level I)[6][6]
Transmission
General Electric HMPT-500-3EC[6]
Suspension
Torsion bar[6]
Ground clearance
Up to 17 in (430 mm)
Fuel capacity
150 US gal (570 L; 120 imp gal)
Operational range
300 mi (480 km)
Maximum speed
Road: 45 mph (72 km/h)
v
t
e
Tanks of the United States
World War I
Mark VIII tank
Ford 3-Ton M1918
Holt gas electric tank
M1917 light tank
Renault FT
Interwar
Medium Tank M1921
Medium Tank M1922
T1 Light Tank
T2 Medium
M1 combat car
M2 light tank
Christie M1931
World War II
M2 medium tank
M3/M5 Light Tank
M3 Lee
M4 Sherman
M22 Locust
M24 Chaffee
Marmon-Herrington CTLS
M26 Pershing
Cold War
M41 Walker Bulldog
M46 Patton
M103
T57
T110
M47 Patton
M48 Patton
T95 medium tank
M60 tank
T92 Light Tank
M551 Sheridan
MBT-70
XM803
Expeditionary tank
M1 Abrams
M8 Armored Gun System
Block III tank
Post–Cold War
M10 Booker
The M8 Armored Gun System (AGS), sometimes known 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 (2nd ACR) of the U.S. Army respectively.
The M8 AGS began as a private venture of FMC Corporation, 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 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 (17.8 short tons (16.1 t) in its low-velocity airdrop configuration), field-installable modular armor, M35 105 mm caliber soft recoil rifled gun, 21-round magazined 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 (MGS) 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.
^Hunnicutt 2015a, p. 288.
^Department of Defense Appropriations for Fiscal Year 1992: Appendix, submitted questions and answers. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1991. p. 435. ISBN 9780160373268. Retrieved February 14, 2023.
^Department of the Army 1994, p. 1-2.
^Cite error: The named reference downselect was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Cite error: The named reference XM1302 Chieftain 2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ abcdefghijHunnicutt 2015a, p. 310.
^Cite error: The named reference Miller was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Cite error: The named reference Jane's 16th was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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