Editing M48 GAU-8 Avenger (section)

==History==
Class: Self-Propelled Anti-Aircraft Gun (Concept)<br>
Developed: 1977-1978<br>
Service: N/A<br>
Vehicles Built: N/A<br>
Operators: N/A

This is a prototype of a self-propelled anti-aircraft vehicle built on an M48A5 chassis and armed with the seven-barreled GAU-8 Avenger rotary cannon, known from the A-10 Warthog. The vehicle was designed by General Electric for a program called Division Air Defense (DIVAD). The DIVAD program was launched in the 1970s to provide U.S. armored forces with mobile anti-aircraft firepower after the disappointing results of the MIM-46 Mauler project from the 1960s. The M163 Vulcan and Chaparral AAGM combination proved to be equally unsuccessful with the onset of Soviet helicopters, which was why the Americans returned to the concept of gunned vehicles.<br>
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Even amongst the odd DIVAD proposals, General Electric&#39;s concept was odd with the massive Avenger gun installed in a very lightly armored turret. Unsurprisingly, General Electric did not win the contest; that &#34;honor&#34; fell to General Dynamics and, more importantly, Ford with its XM247 Sergeant York. As a result, the M48 GAU-8 was never built and remained on paper only.