- The U.S. army needs to requisition Tesla Cybertrucks to make use of for testing.
- It isn’t some off-road readiness take a look at, however one the place the vans simply get blown up by missiles.
- U.S. forces imagine that adversaries “could transition” to Cybertrucks sooner or later.
Earlier this yr, rumor of a $400 million buy of armored Tesla Cybertrucks by the U.S. State Division started swirling about. Finally, the plan fell by means of, however that does not imply that Cybertrucks aren’t nonetheless on the radar of the federal authorities. It is simply not in the best way you may assume.
It seems that the feds nonetheless desire a handful of chrome steel Teslas. In response to paperwork uncovered by The Conflict Zonethe U.S. army are those who’re requisitioning them—for goal observe.
The U.S. Air Pressure are those seeking to choose up a couple of of the Tesla vans. In response to the request by the army, they imagine that international adversaries “could transition” to Tesla Cybertrucks due to their means to resist injury extra considerably than the typical Toyota Tacoma or Ford F-150.
Translation: there is a non-zero probability that America’s enemies might quickly be driving a tactical Cybertruck and the army needs to be ready.
This is the inside track from the ever-capable Twz:
“On 13 February 2025, market analysis was carried out to evaluate the competitors for the Tesla Cybertruck by evaluating its design, supplies, affect resistance, and modern applied sciences. The examine revealed that the Cybertruck’s aggressively angular and futuristic design, paired with its unpainted chrome steel exoskeleton, units it aside from opponents usually utilizing painted metal or aluminum our bodies,” the justification doc explains. “Moreover, its 48V electrical structure supplies superior energy and effectivity, a function that rivals are solely starting to develop. In depth web searches and business outreach by (redacted) discovered no automobiles with options akin to these of the Cybertruck.”
Extra importantly, “(redacted) intends to makes use of (sic) particular Tesla manufactured automobiles for goal automobile coaching flight take a look at occasions. Within the working theatre it’s doubtless the kind of automobiles utilized by the enemy could transition to Tesla Cyber vans (sic) as they’ve been discovered to not obtain the traditional extent of harm anticipated upon main affect,” it provides. “Testing must mirror actual world conditions. The intent of the coaching is to prep the models for operations by simulating situations as intently as potential to the true world conditions.”
The Cybertruck has made its method into the information fairly a couple of instances for its potential tactical capabilities.
First had been the early checks the place influencers had been actually capturing their automobiles to see what sort of stopping energy the vans’ metal physique might truly deal with. Finally, the Cybertruck was in a position to cease subsonic 9mm and .45 ACP rounds with no drawback; however faster-moving projectiles had been a problem.
Then there was the explosion exterior of Trump Tower in Las Vegas the place a person rented a Cybertruck on Turo and crammed it with “fireworks, fuel tanks and tenting gasoline.” The Cybertruck, in keeping with CEO Elon Musk, “truly contained the explosion and directed the blast upwards.”
And, in fact, it might even be price citing the Cybertruck belonging to a Chechen warlord. Ramzan Kadyrov mounted a machine gun within the mattress of the truck and subsequently claimed that Musk remotely disabled the truck after he despatched it to the frontline of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Clearly all of this has garnered the eye of the Air Pressure, which now needs at the very least a pair of them delivered to the White Sands Missile Vary in New Mexico for, uh, testing. Base on the situation, if we needed to guess, signifies that the vans can be blown to smithereens by (you guessed it) missiles.
The Airforce additionally would not even care if the vans are operating and driving. The requisition simply notes that they should roll when towed behind one other automobile, so so long as its acquired 4 wheels, it is a potential goal. So excellent news for all of these vans that had been breaking downI suppose.
On the finish of the day, it is in all probability not the craziest factor on paper to check. Electrical automobiles on the battlefield are positively under-explored; and whereas an enormous ol’ battery is not more likely to change how explosive a missile is, it is in all probability smart for the federal government to know how one thing like shiny, chilly rolled metal might have an effect on its weaponry. And, in spite of everything, Tesla did at all times need to disrupt transportation…possibly simply not on this method.
