- The U.S. military wants to requisition Tesla Cybertrucks to use for testing.
- It’s not some off-road readiness test, but one where the trucks just get blown up by missiles.
- U.S. forces believe that adversaries “may transition” to Cybertrucks in the future.
Earlier this year, rumors of a $400 million purchase of armored Tesla Cybertrucks by the U.S. State Department began swirling about. Ultimately, the plan fell through, but that doesn’t mean that Cybertrucks aren’t still on the radar of the federal government. It’s just not in the way you might think.
It turns out that the feds still want a handful of stainless steel Teslas. According to documents uncovered by The War Zone, the U.S. military are the ones who are requisitioning them—for target practice.
The U.S. Air Force are the ones looking to pick up a few of the Tesla trucks. According to the request by the military, they believe that foreign adversaries “may transition” to Tesla Cybertrucks because of their ability to withstand damage more substantially than the average Toyota Tacoma or Ford F-150.
Translation: there’s a non-zero chance that America’s enemies could soon be driving a tactical Cybertruck and the military wants to be prepared.
Here’s the scoop from the ever-capable TWZ:
“On 13 February 2025, market research was conducted to assess the competition for the Tesla Cybertruck by evaluating its design, materials, impact resistance, and innovative technologies. The study revealed that the Cybertruck’s aggressively angular and futuristic design, paired with its unpainted stainless steel exoskeleton, sets it apart from competitors typically using painted steel or aluminum bodies,” the justification document explains. “Additionally, its 48V electrical architecture provides superior power and efficiency, a feature that rivals are only beginning to develop. Extensive internet searches and industry outreach by [redacted] found no vehicles with features comparable to those of the Cybertruck.”
More importantly, “[redacted] intends to uses [sic] specific Tesla manufactured vehicles for target vehicle training flight test events. In the operating theatre it is likely the type of vehicles used by the enemy may transition to Tesla Cyber trucks [sic] as they have been found not to receive the normal extent of damage expected upon major impact,” it adds. “Testing needs to mirror real world situations. The intent of the training is to prep the units for operations by simulating scenarios as closely as possible to the real world situations.”
The Cybertruck has made its way into the news quite a few times for its potential tactical capabilities.
First were the early tests where influencers were literally shooting their vehicles to see what kind of stopping power the trucks’ steel body could actually handle. Ultimately, the Cybertruck was able to stop subsonic 9mm and .45 ACP rounds without a problem; but faster-moving projectiles were an issue.
Then there was the explosion outside of Trump Tower in Las Vegas where a man rented a Cybertruck on Turo and filled it with “fireworks, gas tanks and camping fuel.” The Cybertruck, according to CEO Elon Musk, “actually contained the explosion and directed the blast upwards.”
And, of course, it would also be worth bringing up the Cybertruck belonging to a Chechen warlord. Ramzan Kadyrov mounted a machine gun in the bed of the truck and subsequently claimed that Musk remotely disabled the truck after he sent it to the frontline of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Obviously all of this has garnered the attention of the Air Force, which now wants at least a pair of them brought to the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico for, uh, testing. Base on the location, if we had to guess, means that the trucks will be blown to smithereens by (you guessed it) missiles.
The Airforce also doesn’t even care if the trucks are running and driving. The requisition just notes that they need to roll when towed behind another vehicle, so as long as its got four wheels, it’s a potential target. So good news for all of those trucks that were breaking down, I suppose.
At the end of the day, it’s probably not the craziest thing on paper to test. Electric vehicles on the battlefield are definitely under-explored; and while a big ol’ battery isn’t likely to change how explosive a missile is, it’s probably wise for the government to understand how something like shiny, cold rolled steel could affect its weaponry. And, after all, Tesla did always want to disrupt transportation…maybe just not in this way.
