Crane operator in cab right front Rigger in cab left front The M578 light recovery vehicle (G309) was an American Cold War-era armored recovery vehicle.

The M578 provided maintenance support to mechanized infantry and artillery units.

Its primary mission was to recover damaged light armored vehicles from the battlefield using its crane boom.

In 1956 the US Army commissioned the Pacific Car & Foundry Company to design an undercarriage for a new series of self-propelled artillery systems that would be lighter, air transportable, and provide a common chassis for multiple vehicles.

[2][3] This would then become the M107 self-propelled gun and M110 self-propelled gun with the Army expanding the program in 1957 to include a field ambulance (T119) and an armored light recovery vehicle (T120) with the T119 being dropped from the program during the prototype phase.