Heavily armed pick-up trucks as weapons of war became a thing during conflicts in Somalia, Libya, and Chad in the 1980s and 1990s.
The latter conflict was known as the ‘Toyota War’ because of the widespread use of such vehicles by both sides.
Now, they are being used to great effect by Ukrainians against Russia.
As I wrote about here,‘technicals’ are “open-backed civilian pickup trucks or other four-wheel-drive SUVs mounting a machine gun, anti-aircraft gun, rotary cannon, anti-tank weapon, anti-tank gun or missile mortar, multiple rocket launcher, recoilless rifle, or other support weapon.”
“And Toyota trucks seem to be the platform of choice for warlords, armed militias, paramilitaries and even police forces worldwide.”
But why Toyota?
Chris, who owns the Instagram page ‘Toyotas of War,’ says: “ask any veteran of the last 50 years and they’ll tell you these Japanese automobiles are vehicles of war.”
He adds, that it’s about “Reliability and availability,” and “They work — and when they don’t, parts are widely available.”
But in Ukraine, Fords and Mitsubishis are also popular gun-toting vehicles.
Task and Purpose writes:
Business Insider reported this past week on an international team – led by a Ukrainian esports analyst of all things – bringing in cars from around Europe and retrofitting them with weapons and armor. The most desired cars are Mitsubishi L200s, the Ford Ranger and the Toyota Hilux, the latter a car infamous for its durability. The cars are given armor and a weapon, ranging from a Javelin anti-tank rocket to a machine gun, is put on the back.
And the technicals being fielded by Ukrainians also feature a truly wild array of weapons. Seriously.
There are drones, multi-rocket launch systems, machine guns salvaged from destroyed Russian vehicles and more. Videos and images from the war have shown these trucks moving fast on the battlefield and firing their weapons onto Russian positions. On Thursday, The War Zone reported on Ukrainians putting a remote-controlled weapons system on the back of a Soviet-era Volga. The gun itself is vintage Soviet weaponry, the control system is modern.
Early in the war, Ukrainians inflicted massive damage and casualties on Russian forces due to small arms tactics and urban warfare that eventually repelled the Russian push to Kyiv.
While the fighting in Ukraine has shifted to a heavy artillery war in the eastern Donbas and Luhansk regions over the past two months, the ‘technicals’ are still providing quick and mobile firepower to the country’s defense forces.
ALD
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.
Paul Crespo is the Managing Editor of American Liberty Defense News. As a Marine Corps officer, he led Marines, served aboard ships in the Pacific and jumped from helicopters and airplanes. He was also a military attaché with the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) at U.S. embassies worldwide. He later ran for state and federal office, taught political science, wrote for the editorial board of a major newspaper and had his own radio show. A graduate of Georgetown, London and Cambridge universities, he brings decades of experience and insight to the issues that most threaten our American liberty – at home and from abroad. To read more go to: paulcrespo.com.
Awesome
Said trucks need:
50 cal MG Ma Deuce
Minigun
20mm cannons
rockets
What Ukraine needs to do is get those weapons closer to the border and then pound the hell out of the Russian tanks and soldiers that are assembled there. Let them know that they can’t just hang back there and lob their bombs into Ukraine when they please. Unless Russia resorts to nukes they will be tied up there for years. Use nukes and it’s a whole new ballgame that the rest of the world will be drawn into.