The Abrams AGDS (Armored Ground Defense System) was a vehicle concept and proposal, drafted in July 1996 by Dr. Asher H. Sharoni (a former colonel in the Israeli Defense Forces) and Lawrence D. Bacon from a Californian company called Western Design Howden . It was supposed to be an air-defense vehicle, protecting the Abrams formations against flying threats, although its weaponry can be deployed against ground targets as well.