Tank origin

Due to the unstable political environment of the late 1970s and early 1980s, the U.S. decided to build up its forces with vehicles that could be deployed quickly in the face of conflict. The AAI Corporation’s proposal for the Rapid Deployment Force Light Tank, or RDF/LT, fit within this directive. The first RDF/LT prototype mounted a 76mm gun similar to the M41 Walker Bulldog’s. However, later designs used the ARES automatic 75mm gun, which was non-standard. Because of this limitation, work on the RDF/LT was abandoned after 1985.