It may have something to do with the fact that the M113 was/is too slow to keep pace with an M1 moving at full speed. Back in the '80s, when the original books were written, as a general rule, units equipped with M1s were also equipped with M2 Bradleys. Units still equipped with the M60 were equipped with the M113.
The authors foresaw the retirement of the M60 series. It appears that they also assumed that production of the complex and expensive M1 would not be able to fully replace all of them by 1997. In a similar vein, it seems like the authors conceded that the M2 would not fully replace the more numerous M113. So, there would still be mechanized units equipped primarily with the M113 and they would need a tank that was neither the old M60 or the more advanced M1. Therefore, they looked around at some of the light tank options being considered for the U.S. Army at the time and selected the LAV-75 & Stingray (orginally) and then the M8 (for version 2) to fill that gap.
That's my take on it. Armor parity (in terms of quality) may also have been a factor being as, even during the '80s, most knowledgable folks knew that the T-55/62 was no match for an Abrams.
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