Air Force buying two Tesla Cybertrucks so it can learn to destroy them The US Air Force wants to blow up two Tesla Cybertrucks. We know this because defense industry publication The War Zone spotted contract opportunity posted by the US Air Force Material Command, which seeks suppliers that can provide 33 “target vehicles” needed for tests and training. A partly redacted contract document [PDF] …
Understand the comment. And there's some truth in it. But in this case, they are hiring a contractor to buy the vehicles, and apparently haven't put much in the way of restriction on how they are procured. If it's a fixed price contract, I would guess the trucks delivered will be well used and a bit banged up.
>the Air Force wants two of those vehicles to be Cybertrucks because its research indicated they “have been found not to receive the normal extent of damage upon major impact.
Eh?
"The Air Force" as in USAF? Whose smallest ordonance is an AGM114 Hellfire? 10kg warhead, able to take out an Abrams MBT? [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AGM-114_Hellfire#cite_note-27]
> Enemies will therefore likely buy Cybertrucks,
Certainly not - they're terrorists, not idiots.
> and the Air Force wants to gain experience destroying them.
This again, I can wholly understand. And support the idea. Vigorously.
Beloved by bands and bank robbers, the Ford Transit turns 60
In 1972, so the story goes, a Metropolitan Police spokesman claimed Transits were being used in 95% of bank raids, adding that its speed and loading space meant it had become the perfect getaway vehicle. This, he commented drily, made it "Britain's most wanted van".
> have been found not to receive the normal extent of damage upon major impact
Remember those "virtually unbreakable" windows which shattered during the unveiling? Apparently our friends in the Air Force must be still believing the "virtually unbreakable" story.
In a war why couldn't the US government simply instruct Tesla to disable them with an OTA upadate? It might have to be based on location or customer or something and if the US military also used Cybertrucks it would mean creating a separate build for them so they could exclude their vehicles, but one would imagine that they might want this anyway.
Or are they considering civil war as one scenario?
"Or are they considering civil war as one scenario?"
I doubt many have been sold in the usual locations where the US goes to hold a war, and there's none legally in use in the UK or EU, so the scenarios must be US-specific. Something like either a widespread MAGA revolt or maybe just some isolated crazy decides to use a car as a weapon or delivery system, driving a car at some government asset or personality. Said use cases want something fast-ish, and tough, so Musk's e-redneckmobile fits the bill. The isolated crazy scenario has already occurred in Vegas of course.
Since the testing implies that USAF hope to be around to use its toys against renegade Musketeers, that suggests a concern for an attack on some location, event or individual where attack choppers would be in the air at the time. Or maybe , as with the "trickle down" of war surplus tanks and armoured cars to the US police, USAF are expecting the trigger happy morons of SWAT teams to be getting their own Apaches? Anything's possible in America.
Actually, there's a few of these wheeled dumpsters on the road, legally in Norway.
We unfortunately have a law that allows for import and use of used cars that has already been approved and used in America or Canada.
If the USAAF wants to use those for target practice, I won't exactly try to stop them.
"The isolated crazy scenario has already occurred in Vegas of course."
Tesla was able to publish full telemetry on that Wankpanzer shortly after the event. Had somebody known the guy was a madman, he probably could have been disabled somewhere on a lonely stretch of road along the way. Not a good vulnerability to have if you want to win.
Actually there are clips of them being used in Russia (Checyna's crazy leader apparently has a couple), and a few more in Africa if I remember correctly...
So it's not that far fetched, that America thinks they may have to take them on at some point. But considering the numbers out there, I dont think it's really that necessary beyond a "Hey, lets see what shit we can blow up, that we havent blown up before!"...
>Actually there are clips of them being used in Russia (Checyna's crazy leader apparently has a couple), and a few more in Africa if I remember correctly...
I would imagine those are being paraded around far away from any actual conflict though, as no respectable dictator is going to risk their luxury toys in actual combat. Like pretty much any other Cybtertruck, those are being used purely for prestige and not function.
"In a war why couldn't the US government simply instruct Tesla to disable them with an OTA upadate?"
I've noticed that military vehicles are very primitive. They eschew even adjustable seats and steering columns in some models. I expect the reasoning is that they want them to at least run/drive even if all the electronics mounted inside are frazzled. Diesel drive trains can be robust that way.
@MachDiamond: Not anymore, at least in western ruins. Lots of computers managing engine injection, gears, digital distractions, even in HiLuxes. The newer ones are rumoured to be not as reliable as the 3l turbo diesels. I suspect that the enthusiasts rebuilding purely mechanical injection diesels from 1970s may have only working vehicles after Poo Bear, Fat Boy etc have their egos stroked enough. Anyone know what drive trains USSR/Ruskie military vehicles use ?
"Lots of computers managing engine injection, gears, digital distractions, even in HiLuxes."
Even at 3x the cost, military vehicles don't come with digital distractions. Not even servo-assisted heated digital wing mirrors. Engine management systems, yes, but those aren't difficult to shield and don't have an antenna waving in the air looking for OTA updates. I haven't seen what the latest vehicles feature. When I worked in movie props, we had older 2-1/2t trucks, HumVees, jeeps, etc. Super uncomfortable and very basic.
I would assume that the US government can just nicely and quietly ask Elon for the remote kill switch for any Tesla vehicle. And close the windows, lock the doors, and set the heated seats to maximum.
Haven't they watched the early Top Gear episode that all baddies drive Toyota Hilux? Or the episodes where they drive a Hilux over an active volcano, or to the North Pole? Good luck trying that with a Cybertruck.
"I would assume that the US government can just nicely and quietly ask Elon for the remote kill switch for any Tesla vehicle."
"Nice" and "quietly" are not in the current administration's lexicon; In theory they could do as you say, in practice anyone using one with malevolent intent will be running on fake (or no) plates and even if they asked for all CTs to be disabled, would they have sufficient time to be able to do this? I suspect not, as most terrorists don't advertise or publish timetables.
Judging by the plots used in some novels, such as William Gibson's "Blue Ant" series, heavily modified Toyota Hiluxes (supercharged, armoured and fitted with bullet-proof glass) were readily available from London customisers in the early 2000s. They were apparently quite popular among Gulf Arabs and Saudis - and judging by a quick search, now have their fans in India too.
"I would assume that the US government can just nicely and quietly ask Elon for the remote kill switch for any Tesla vehicle. And close the windows, lock the doors, and set the heated seats to maximum."
Or drive at full speed to crash into another car. Hmmm, wasn't Julia Roberts in a movie with a scene like that using Teslas?
This whole thing sounds like Elon's paid one of his buddies who works at the Airforce, to get a story into the news that Cybertrucks are so resilient that the air force want to blow them up as a marketing tactic.
As there is no way that anything that the military have wouldn't be able to disable them.
The YouTuber who did this is a bit hard to take, but he does like to abuse vehicles. He made two videos pitting an F-150 vs a Cybertruck in activities that are calculated to generate a lot of views. But I would not have thought I'd see a Cybertruck "float" (approx 8:50 and following) in this one (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yn4XzbMf9nY).
Trump is simply planning for the next phase of his fight with Elon!
An Executive Order declaring Cybertrucks as a terrorist threat, he orders the USAF to destroy them all!
This is just the pre-planning, it wouldnt look good to make the order and then the USAF finds they survive the initial bombing run, would it now...
Perhaps the Air Force would rather not have to douse a battery fire, which can be very hard to handle.
The US Military that has exploded nuclear weapons in New Mexico can deal with a battery fire. More likely they don't want to clean up the dispersed chemicals from shattered batteries because they consider this as more harmful to Joshua trees and agave than nuclear fallout.
I don't think they consider the releases from shattered batteries to be more toxic to Joshua trees and agave than nuclear fallout. I believe it's more that releasing garbage into the air isn't considered acceptable now, while it was when nuclear testing was still done. Not that it should have been; people are still dealing with health issues from the nuclear testing.
There are already a couple videos online of some dumbass influencers letting someone shoot their Cybertruck with pretty standard firearms, and the bullets unsurprisingly just punch right through the stainless steel panels on the doors and straight into the cabin. I would imagine that the USAF has a few things laying about that are a bit more potent then your average 9mm pistol.
In my opinion, terrorists and smugglers using actual Cybertrucks are probably not the main focus.
To me the fact that electric vehicles have different storage, maintenance and stealth characteristics compared to internal combustion engines suggests they might be useful in actual conflicts. Since hostile foreign governments are unlikely to loan their secret battery-powered military vehicles for testing by the US Air Force, a Cybertruck is the next closest thing.
