M8-105 Buford

## Crew

* Commander
* Driver
* Gunner

The **M8-105 Buford** is a Tier 8 progression Light Tank under Marat Shishkin's dealership.

## History

Class: Light Tank (Prototype)

Developed: 1992-1996

Service: N/A

Vehicles Built: 6

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.

## Vehicle Traits

* Stealthy: This vehicle does not lose any camouflage when moving at any speed, which is handy primarily for scouting.
* HESH Rounds: This vehicle can fire special Squash Head rounds. These are extremely effective against angled armor that is typical for Soviet tanks.

## Upgrades

### Armor

M8 Buford Stock Armor
 Light Tank armor typically protects the vehicle against machineguns and autocannons only.

Level III Composite/Ceramic Armor Upgrade Package
 This set of extra plating significantly improves the vehicle's protection, especially against HEAT shells and ATGMs.

### Weapon

**Stats:**

* **Depression/Elevation**: -10.0° / 20.0°

### Engine

 Detroit Diesel 6V92TIA 580 hp Diesel Engine

## Abilities

**Description:**Temporarily improves your vehicle's acceleration, maximum speed and hull traverse values at the cost of increased camouflage penalty for movement. In other words, activating this ability makes your vehicle easier to spot when moving.

**Description:**This ability improves your vehicle's reload speed, allowing it to fire faster for a short period of time. However, for the duration of this ability, the gun also becomes considerably less accurate and ATGMs become far more difficult to aim.

## Footnotes

1. ↑ Enables you to unlock one tier 9 vehicle.

Dealer: Marat Shishkin

Vehicles:

	* T-90MS
	* BMPT-72
	* M8-120 Thunderbolt II
	* Challenger 2
2. ↑ 690 mm at 150m;
552 mm at 600m
3. ↑ 730 mm at 150m;
584 mm at 600m
4. ↑ 18 mm at 100m;
9 mm at 1000m
5. ↑ This upgrade is unavailable until the vehicle progress is complete.

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