U.S. Military Goes A-Team, Orders Covertly Armored Toyotas for Testing

Steph Willems
by Steph Willems

Toyota SUVs and pickups are popular with insurgents in overseas conflict zones, so why shouldn’t the U.S. military kick the tires on some?

The U.S. Special Operations Command just placed an order for up to 556 vehicles outfitted for “unconventional warfare” use, most of them Toyota Land Cruisers, Military Aerospace reports.

SOCOM’s contract with Battelle Memorial Institute of Columbus, Ohio will produce 396 armored and 160 unarmored off-the-shelf vehicles for testing purposes. The armored vehicles will be outfitted to survive a firefight while remaining incognito in global hot spots.

While the bulk of the contract is for Toyota Land Cruiser 76 and 79 variants (the SUV and pickup versions), some of the vehicles will be Toyota Hilux pickups and Ford Rangers. The idea of the testing program is to one day deliver a battle-ready vehicle to Special Forces that doesn’t carry a neon sign reading, “We’re here!”

Batelle will modify the vehicles, keeping their stock appearance while adding “special armor, suspension, brakes, frames and body reinforcements, as well as infrared lighting, blackout mode, and Special Operations command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (C4ISR) equipment,” the report states.

Once the Special Operations upgrades are complete, the fleet will undergo a design review process, then contractor and government testing. If SOCOM likes them, the military will issue production orders.

ISIS terrorists in Syria and Iraq love the Hilux and Land Cruiser — it’s their go-to ride, and the U.S. Air Force can’t destroy enough of them. Being able to fly under the radar in a secretly A-Teamed Toyota would give Special Forces a real edge in their mission. They love it when a plan comes together.

Steph Willems
Steph Willems

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  • Jeff S Jeff S on Jul 24, 2016

    I wouldn't mind having a Hilux. It would be nice to have the option of buying a Hilux even if it was made in Mexico. The Hilux appears to be a much more capable truck than the Tacoma which is a good truck but is very outdated.

    • Gtem Gtem on Jul 24, 2016

      Jeff, In terms of strict offroading capabilities (ie clearance, articulation, locking diffs) the US Tacoma is every bit the Hilux's match. It's when it comes to durability, such as the ability to take a full load on board and THEN go offroad and do that for years, that's where the Hilux shines. That same stiff suspension that accommodates these loads limits the Hilux's articulation offroad.

  • PunksloveTrumpys PunksloveTrumpys on Jul 25, 2016

    Interesting that they chose to use an NZ-registered Hilux for the photo, trudging through mounds of unique native plants on our forest floors... couldn't imagine a place further away from conflict than here, where's the relevance?

    • See 1 previous
    • Pch101 Pch101 on Jul 25, 2016

      It's a generic stock image among many that is provided by Toyota and that is not specific to this story. The media uses photos like these because they are free and can be used without violating copyright laws. The US news media isn't going to pay to fly a guy overseas just to take a picture of a foreign pickup truck, when a photo can be downloaded from Toyota's media website in a few seconds. It's not a NZ number plate, it's just a generic black and white thing that vaguely resembles a license plate that is used for the sake of the photograph. This is typical of stock automotive photography.

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