Level 1 вЂ“ offers basic protection against small arms and shell fragments. To make the vehicle suitable for multiple types of operations, the XM8 could be configured with three possible armor options that influence the vehicleвЂ™s weight but increase the protection. 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. Army with a vehicle with sufficient firepower and the ability to withstand artillery shrapnel impacts and infantry-operated anti-tank weapon fire. The main goal of the project was to provide the U.S. The XM8 was designed by FMC (or, more specifically, its subsidiary United Defense) as part of the abovementioned Armored Gun System program to replace the M551. 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. Airborne forces (82nd Airborne Division), which was in need of light, mobile, and air-transportable firepower. military was actively looking to purchase another such light vehicle to replace the rapidly aging Sheridan. It, therefore, comes as no surprise that, starting in the late 1970s, the U.S. Its protection level was very poor, and it suffered mechanical issues early on. Although it performed reasonably well in the conflicts it took part in the Sheridan was not the most successful American vehicle ever developed. To sum up the development of the XM8 program:ДЇrom the 1970s to the 1990s, the standard light tank of the U.S.

The M8 Thunderbolt Tier 9 Light Tank is a successor to the M8 Buford (formerly called XM8 Armored Gun System in Armored Warfare) and an evolution of this vehicle.

Thunder bolt mobile armor