A technical, known as a non-standard tactical vehicle (NSTV) in United States military parlance, is a light improvised fighting vehicle which has been modified to mount small arms and light weapons (SALW) and heavy weaponry. The vehicles most commonly used to make technicals are open-backed civilian pickup trucks and vehicles with four-wheel drive capabilities. Armaments used include machine guns, automatic grenade launchers, anti-aircraft autocannons, rotary cannons, anti-tank weapons, anti-tank guns, anti-tank guided missiles, mortars, multiple rocket launchers, recoilless rifles, and other support weaponry. Technicals perform a similar function to gun trucks and self-propelled guns, but are helpless against more advanced weaponry and superior air power.
Etymology The neologism technical describing such a vehicle is believed to have originated in Somalia during the Somali Civil War in the early 1990s. Barred from bringing in private security, non-governmental organizations hired local gunmen to protect their personnel, using money defined as "technical assistance grants". The term broadened to include any vehicle carrying armed men. An alternative account is given by Michael Maren, who says the term was first used in Somalia in the 1980s, after engineers from Soviet arms manufacturer Tekniko mounted weapons on vehicles for the Somali National Movement during the Somaliland War of Independence. Technicals have also been referred to as battlewagons and gunwagons. In Russia and Ukraine, technicals are often referred to as tachanka, a reference to horse-drawn machine gun platforms from the First World War and Russian Civil War.
Features Among irregular militaries, often centered on the perceived strength and charisma of male warlords, the prestige of technicals is strong. According to one article, "The Technical is the most significant symbol of power in southern Somalia. It is a small truck with large tripod machine guns mounted on the back. A warlord's power is measured by how many of these vehicles he has." Technicals are not commonly used by well-funded militaries that are able to procure purpose-built combat vehicles, because the soft-skinned civilian vehicles that technicals are based on do not offer much armor protection to crew and passengers. Technicals fill the niche of traditional light cavalry. Generally costing much less than purpose-built combat vehicles, the major asset of technicals is speed and mobility, as well as their ability to strike from unexpected directions with automatic fire and light troop deployment. The reliability of vehicles such as the Toyota Hilux is useful for forces that lack the repair-related infrastructure of a conventional military on land. In direct engagements they are no match for heavier vehicles, such as tanks or other armored fighting vehicles, and they are mostly helpless against any air support from a proper military.
History
Prototypes and early usage
Light improvised fighting vehicles date back to the first use of automobiles, and to the horse-drawn tachankas mounting machine guns in eastern Europe and Russia. At the Bombardment of Papeete in World War I, the French armed several Ford trucks with 37 mm guns to bolster their defense of the city. During the Spanish Civil War, field guns were fixed to trucks to act as improvised self-propelled guns, and improvised armored cars were constructed by attaching steel plates to trucks. In World War II, various British and Commonwealth units, including the Long Range Desert Group (LRDG), the No. 1 Demolition Squadron or 'PPA' (Popski's Private Army), and the Special Air Service (SAS) were noted for their exploits in the deserts of Egypt, Libya and Chad using unarmored motor vehicles, often fitted with machine guns. Examples of LRDG vehicles include the Chevrolet WB 30 cwt Patrol Truck and the Willys MB Jeep.
The SAS' use of heavily armed Land Rovers continued post-war, with their use of Series I Land Rovers and later Series IIA 1968 Land Rovers in the Dhofar Rebellion. The SAS painted their Land Rovers pink, as it was found to provide excellent camouflage in the desert and they were nicknamed 'Pink Panthers' or Pinkies. The SAS used a more modern Land Rover Desert Patrol Vehicle (DPV) during the Gulf War.
Western Sahara Tactics for employing technicals were pioneered by the Sahrawi People's Liberation Army, the armed wing of the Polisario Front, fighting for independence against Mauritania (1975–79) and Morocco (1975–present) from headquarters in Tindouf, Algeria. Algeria provided arms and Land Rovers to Sahrawi guerrillas, who successfully used them in long-range desert raids against the less agile conventional armies of their opponents, recalling Sahrawi tribal raids (ghazis) of the pre-colonial period. Polisario later gained access to heavier equipment, but four-wheel drive vehicles remain a staple of their arsenal. The Moroccan army quickly changed their strategy and created mounted units using technicals to challenge Polisario speed and hit and run strategies in the large desert, where the Moroccan units proved their efficiency.
Chadian–Libyan conflict
In 1987, Chadian troops equipped with technicals drove the heavily mechanized Libyan army from the Aozou Strip. The vehicles were instrumental in the victory at the Battle of Fada, and were driven over 150 km (93 mi) into Libya to raid military bases. It was discovered that these light vehicles could ride through anti-tank minefields without detonating the mines when driven at speeds over 100 km/h. The vehicles became so famous that, in 1984, Time dubbed early stages of the conflict the "Great Toyota War". The Toyota War was unusual in that the force equipped with improvised vehicles prevailed over the force equipped with purpose-built fighting vehicles. MILAN anti-tank guided missiles provided by France were key to the Chadian success, while the Libyan forces were poorly deployed and organized.
The Troubles in Northern Ireland
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