LAV-75; Stingray; M8 AGS

[Raellus]

I know that the concept of the infantry tank/assault gun has fallen out of fashion, but history has demonstrated that infantry divisions need organic armor. Even in wartime, the M1 system is simply too complex, too expensive, and too slow to produce to both keep up with required combat attrition replacements for the armored and heavy mechanized divisions AND to equip infantry/light mechanized divisions. Therefore, something like the LAV-75 (cheaper, simpler, and faster to produce than the M1 or comparable MBTs), although not ideal as either a tank killer or an infantry support gun platform, would be needed. In my mind, as soon as WWIII starts, LAV-75 production becomes essential.

In WWII, as soon as the PzIV, V, VI were encountered, pretty much everyone from the crewmen to the folks in the DoD knew that the M4 Sherman was an inferior product. But, it was simple, fairly reliable, and could be produced in numbers the Germans could never hope to match. In WWIII, the New Allies would be facing an "armor gap" that could not be closed by producing top-of-the-line M1 variants. Even if, at the outset of the war, every M1 killed 5 Soviet MBTs before succumbing to some sort of attrition (combat loss, mechanical breakdown, etc.), the gap would still not be closed. Only by producing a LAV-type tank could the U.S. (and its allies) hope to close the gap. T2K canon seems to take this viewpoint as well. The LAV-75 aint perfect, but it will have to do.