- The U.S. Air Force is looking to buy two Cybertrucks to use as missile targets. The trucks do not need to run, but the body, glass, and mirrors must be intact.
While consumers are losing interest in Tesla’s Cybertruck, the armed forces are on the hunt for a few.
The War Zone, a news site that covers the defense industry, reports the Air Force is planning to buy two Cybertrucks to use as targets for “live missile fire testing.” The testing is set to take place at the White Sands Missile Range (WSMR) in New Mexico (an Army base the Air Force also uses).
Typically, when the armed forces collect vehicles to practice blowing them up, they don’t seek out specific brands. And while the Trump administration and Tesla CEO Elon Musk have been sniping at each other on social media for the past couple of months, this brand-name exception is more the result of expected actions by the nation’s enemies.
“In the operating theater, it is likely the type of vehicles used by the enemy may transition to Tesla Cybertrucks, as they have been found not to receive the normal extent of damage expected upon major impact,” the Air Force wrote in a justification document supporting the purchase order. “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 Air Force notes that the trucks it is looking to buy do not need to run, but the body, glass, and mirrors must be intact, with little to no damage. It’s a safe bet that officials won’t be buying them from the company.
Not a lot of people are these days. Tesla sold just 4,300 of the trucks in the second quarter of the year, a 51% drop. Last year, Tesla sold just 39,000 of the vehicles, a number it’s unlikely to match this year.
In addition to the Cybertrucks, the Air Force is looking for 31 other cars, including sedans, bongo trucks, pickups, and SUVs, all of which will likely be blown up.
