Originally designed to meet a requirement for a fast tank destroyer, the M8 was a lightly armored 6X6 vehicle armed with a 37mm main gun and coaxial 30 caliber machine gun in its open turret, and a 50 caliber machine gun on a flexible mount. Newer tank designs soon made the 37mm gun obsolete as an anti-tank weapon, but the vehicle's speed was useful for reconnaissance duties so it was used primarily in that role by the Allied forces in WWII. The M8 then went on to serve in the Korean conflict and French Indochina, and updated versions can still be found in service today in a few corners of the world.