The U.S. Air Force wants to use Cybertrucks for target practice

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Finally, a legitimate use for Tesla’s slab-sided monster truck. The U.S. Air Force wants to use the American automaker’s stainless-steel Cybertruck for target practice. Target practice for guided missiles, no less. “Standoff Precision Guided Munitions,” to be exact.

Now, to be sure, the Air Force doesn’t want to blow up only Cybertrucks. It’s seeking but two out of a total of 33 vehicles requisitioned by the White Sands Missile Range in Las Cruces, New Mexico. On the other hand, Tesla’s “finest” are also one of only two models that the Air Force asked for specifically (the other is Mazda’s Bongo, an otherwise fairly non-descript miniature pickup/cargo van/camper-wagon sold pretty much everywhere in the world except North America). The rest are simply referred to as generic sedans, SUVs, or trucks.

As to the why, the official reason is that the Cybertruck’s “aggressively angular and futuristic design, paired with its unpainted stainless-steel exoskeleton, sets it apart from competitors using painted steel or aluminum bodies.” More importantly, the “sole-source” requisition states the Air Force wants to use them as targets because “the enemy may transition to Tesla Cybertrucks” and “testing needs to mirror real-world situations.” As to who those enemies might be, it’s tough to imagine.

According to a website called The War Zone — yes, T-double-U-Z — while some Cybertrucks have indeed been weaponized and armoured, those modifications have been pulled off for law-enforcement agencies, and the vast preponderance of the 46,000 Cybertrucks sold have found owners in the United States. That said, Ramzan Kadyrov, head the Chechen Republic — and Putin’s most loyal ally — reportedly has several Cybertrucks with machine guns mounted in the back.

And to be fair, the reason the Pentagon types think that Cybertrucks are so attractive to such miscreants — “they have been found not to receive the normal extent of damage expected upon major impact” — is a major feather in Elon’s cap. The fact that they may stand up to, again according to TWZ, AGM-114 Hellfires, the AGM-176 Griffin missile, the GBU-69/B Small Glide Munition (SGM), and the GBU-39B/B Laser Small Diameter Bomb (LSDB) is a bunch better marketing than the shattered glass debacle that was the Cybertruck’s launch in Hawthorne, California.

None of the above, however, explains why the Air Force feels the need to blow up Mazda’s unassuming little Bongo.

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