The most notorious adaptation of the Toyota Hilux is on the battlefield. The Hilux has been conscripted as an unintended warrior for decades. Many in the US were first introduced to the Toyota Hilux from news coverage of wars in Afghanistan, Syria, and Iraq, where columns of Hilux vehicles paraded through captured cities (packed into the bed and cab, up to twenty militants can be transported in a Toyota Hilux). As described by the New York Times, “for ordinary fighters, men with long beards and longer barrels on their ubiquitous Kalashnikovs, the vehicle of choice is the Toyota Hilux, a compact pickup truck popular throughout the developing world.”
Non-Standard Tactical Vehicles (NSTVs), called “technicals” in military circles, are civilian vehicles converted for military use. Technicals are common in armed forces that lack resources for conventional weapons, and whose adversaries are armed to the teeth with heavy tanks, artillery, and airpower. To the chagrin of Toyota, the ruggedness, reliability, reparability, and ubiquity of the Hilux have made it the technical of choice in many conflicts. Chris Lo, blogging on army-technology.com, writes that “the truck is prized by fighters in rugged terrain around the world for its reliability, off-road capability, suitability as a heavy weapons platform and nigh-on indestructible frame.” Compared to armored vehicles like the Humvee (High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle, or HMMWV), a Hilux technical may appear outclassed. However, the Hilux weighs less, has a standard wheelbase that can traverse narrow mountain roads and hairpin turns, is more fuel efficient, and is less conspicuous. An M1 Abrams tank, by contrast, gets less than one mile per gallon / .4 liters per kilometer of high-test aviation fuel and demands specialized maintenance. Whereas a 60-ton M1 Abrams tank’s maximum speed is governed at 45 miles per hour / 72 kilometers per hour, a Toyota Hilux can go from zero to sixty miles per hour in just over ten seconds. A Hilux technical, thanks to the ubiquity of the Toyota Hilux worldwide, is inexpensive to maintain and repair. A diesel model will deliver over 20 miles per gallon / 8.5 kilometers per liter, traveling up to 500 miles / 800 kilometers on its 21 gallon / 80 liter tank, depending on the terrain. A fleet of fast, light Hilux technicals can effectively attack a column of tanks or armored vehicles asymmetrically, delivering devastating hits and retreating faster than defending forces can target them. With bed-mountain weapons and improvised armor, Hilux technicals are adapted for the circumstances of the conflict. The Hilux technical isn’t a compromise. It’s chosen for battle because it’s the best tool for the job.