M551 Sheridan replacement process
The Armored Gun System (AGS) was a U.S. Army competition in the 1990s to design a light tank to replace the M551 Sheridan and TOW-equipped HMMWVs.
It was the ultimate incarnation of several research programs run in the 1970s with the aim of providing air-mobile light infantry forces with the firepower needed to last in the battlefield.
Cadillac Gage offered its Stingray light tank with the traditional four-man layout.
The designers of the M551 faced a difficult problem; guns capable of destroying main battle tanks at a reasonable range were too heavy to fit onto a lightweight chassis.
The M551 solved this with the M81 gun/launcher, which fired HEAT shells at low velocity for short-range work, and the MGM-51 Shillelagh missile for long-range shots.
When tested during the Vietnam War, the missile system was simply not fit for use and the tank was used primarily in the anti-infantry role.
Reviews were mixed; it was praised for its mobility and resistance to getting stuck in mud, but was also prone to destruction by mines and RPG-2 rounds that larger tanks would shrug off.
[5] The ARES concept was to fire multiple rounds at a target in order to break down its composite armor.
The HIMAG chassis was further upgraded with armor on the front to allow it to absorb frontal hits and included a newer "hunter/killer sight" and laser rangefinder.
[4] However, by the time the HSTV/L was being tested, the Army concluded that the ARES gun would not be effective against newer Soviet tanks.
The Marine Corps continued developing the concept under the name Mobile Protected Weapons System (MPWS) an amphibious ship-to-shore vehicle.
[8] While the ARMVAL program was ongoing, in 1979 Jimmy Carter ordered the formation of the Rapid Deployment Joint Task Force, or RDF.
This point was driven home during the 1979 Iran hostage crisis, when it was realized there was very little the U.S. could do if the Soviets invaded Iran; the first troops could not arrive for weeks at a minimum, and air power in the area was limited to the B-52 Stratofortress flying from bases in the Indian Ocean, Naval air power could not reach the northeastern areas where the Soviets would operate.
The desire to add further power to their mobile forces was the impetus for a sweeping series of changes known as Air Land Battle.
At around this point, the Army had spent about $30 million on light tank programs to replace the Sheridan.
[16] By 1992, with the deferment of the Armored Systems Modernization Block III tank and the Comanche helicopter, the AGS emerged as the top priority procurement program for the Army.
The relatively low cost of the program—about $600 million—amid shrinking procurement budgets contributed to the service's good will towards the project.
Only one year later, Defense Secretary William Perry instructed the Army to reduce manpower by another 20,000 as part of the FY1997 budget.
