Editing M8-105 Buford (section)

==History==
Class: Light Tank (Prototype)<br>
Developed: 1992-1996<br>
Service: N/A<br>
Vehicles Built: 6<br>
Operators: N/A

From the 1970s to the 1990s, the standard light tank of the U.S. Army was the M551 Sheridan. Although it performed reasonably well in the conflicts it took part in; the Sheridan was not the most successful American vehicle ever developed. Its protection level was very poor, and it suffered mechanical issues early on. It, therefore, comes as no surprise that, starting in the late 1970s, the U.S. military was actively looking to purchase another such light vehicle to replace the rapidly aging Sheridan. This was especially true for the U.S. Airborne forces (82nd Airborne Division), which was in need of light, mobile, and air-transportable firepower. Throughout the 1980s a number of light tank prototypes appeared as parts of the Armored Gun System program, but none have been as successful as the XM8.

The XM8 was designed by FMC as part of the abovementioned Armored Gun System program to replace the M551. The main goal of the project was to provide the U.S. Army with a vehicle with sufficient firepower and the ability to withstand artillery shrapnel impacts and infantry-operated anti-tank weapon fire. Arguably the most important feature, however, was the ability to deploy such a vehicle by the means of low-velocity airdrop from a C-130 or a C-17 in order for the vehicle to be attached to the 82nd Airborne.

To make the vehicle suitable for multiple types of operations, the XM8 could be configured with three possible armor options that influenced the vehicle’s weight but increased the protection. The vehicle was armed with an experimental, automatically loading Watervliet M35 105mm low recoil gun in its FMC-developed turret. The FCS was based on a Raytheon system developed for the LAV-105.

The vehicle was generally well-designed, but military budget cuts of the 1990s proved to be its undoing. The vehicle contract was initially assigned to FMC, and six prototypes were built and tested. All of them reportedly still exist in various states of disrepair. In September of 1993, FMC presented the vehicle to the military, and there were plans to produce 297 vehicles from 1997 onwards, but the project was ultimately canceled in 1996.