LAV-75; Stingray; M8 AGS

[swaghauler]

There is still a "near 75mm" option for the LAV-75. Considering how "Anti-Aircraft Weapons light" both the Army and the Marines are; One can easily see them adopting "off the shelf" alternatives to fill the AA and light AT gaps in the inventory. That "off the shelf" alternative would be the OTO Melara 76/62mm Compact Rapid Fire Cannon. Originally built as a compact self contained naval cannon; OTO Melara designed a special turret to fit on armored vehicles in the 90's but saw no real sales. I could see both the Army and Marines buying the turrets and fitting them to either a tracked or LAV chassis (the original Italian design was mounted on a MOWAG chassis). This would give such a force both a heavy AA capability AND a light AT capability in one gun. The only disadvantage I could see, is that the gun turret is very high/tall. It was fitted with a radar as well. This means that you could use this vehicle as a "picket" for your forces. The only target it couldn't engage is an MTB.

[Nowhere Man 1966]

I'm sure somewhere, Tim, "TR" Walker is very happy about this if it goes through. IIRC, he was a big supporter of the M-8 Buford in the 1990's.

[Matt Wiser]

No doubt. I liked the vehicle since I saw it in Tom Clancy's Armored Cav. Clancy never forgave the Clinton Administration for canceling the vehicle to pay for the Bosnia Peacekeeping Force.