Technical (fighting vehicle)

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A technical in Liberia.

A technical is an improvised fighting vehicle, typically by a local irregular military force and usually being a modified civilian vehicle or other similar machine. It is usually an open-backed civilian pickup truck or 4x4 on which is mounted a recoilless rifle, a machine gun, a light anti-aircraft gun, or another relatively small weapons system. A technical is usually unarmored, and can be considered a unit of light cavalry.

While the term "technical" for such a vehicle appears to have originated in Mogadishu, Somalia, this type of vehicle is employed throughout the world by irregular and militia forces in urban warfare. The name is thought to have derived from use by the Red Cross there who were often forced to bribe local militias or be the victim of robbery and attacks. "Technical" in this context means "technical support". Another version claims the Red Cross workers hired the locals with machine-gun armed pickup trucks to protect the aid convoys. The money was then written off as "technical expenses".^[1]

TFG soldiers in a technical near Baidoa

Other terms for them are "battlewagons," "gunwagons," or "gunships."^[2]^[3]^[4]

The history of such improvised fighting vehicles stems back through the era of the automobile and the machinegun. During World War II, the British Long Range Desert Group (LRDG) was noted for their exploits in the deserts of Egypt, Libya and Chad on similar precursor vehicles.

Terrain permitting, technicals have been used to dramatic effect in a variety of third world conflicts. They are employed in a few distinct modes; either while moving at high speed, indiscriminately spraying an area with fire, using spray and pray or some form of suppressive fire (in a manner similar to drive-by shooting), or approaching a fixed target rapidly, suddenly stopping, and firing aimed shots. They are also employed to carry troops to a position for a rapid dismount, followed by the vehicle's mounted weapon being used in an offensive mode.

Amongst irregular armies, often centered around the perceived strength and charisma of warlords, the prestige power 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."^[5]

1 Combat history
2 Popular Culture
3 See also
4 External links
5 Notes

[edit] Combat history

When used in guerrilla war, or urban warfare, where an ambush can be arranged, technicals can be very effective. However, because they are unarmored, they have a history of faring poorly against conventional heavy ground forces and air forces.

[edit] Libya-Chad War

In 1987, technicals from Chad drove the heavily mechanized Libyan army from the Aozou Strip. The vehicles were instrumental in the victory at the Battle of Fada, and drove into Libya itself, raiding military bases over 150 km north of the border. The vehicles became so famous that in 1984, Time Magazine dubbed the conflict the "Great Toyota War." The irregular vehicles were likewise accompanied by a lack of chain of command amongst the Chadians, typical of guerrilla warfare. According to the Time article: "We have no ranks," says Abdul Osman, 21. "We are all combatants, we are all volunteers."^[6]

[edit] Somalia

A technical in Somalia after the Fall of Mogadishu, December, 2006

Antiaircraft gun and machinegun mounted on a Somali technical at the Battle of Jowhar, December, 2006

Technicals played an important role in the 1990s Somali Civil War and the recent War in Somalia (2006–present). In Somalia after the fall of Siad Barre and the collapse of the Somali National Army (SNA), it was rare for any force to field a heavy armored fighting vehicle (AFV), but technicals were very common.

Mohamed Farah Aideed used 30 technicals along with a force of 600 militia to capture Baidoa in September 1995.^[7] After he was killed in clan fighting in 1996, his body was carried to his funeral on a Toyota pickup.^[8]

Proving their suceptibility in the face of heavy weapons, and their value as a prize of combat, the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) was able to capture 30 "battlewagons" at the defeat of the militia of warlord Abdi Qeybdid at the Second Battle of Mogadishu.^[9] Thereafter, in September 2006, an impressive array of 130 technicals were used to take Kismayo from the forces of the Juba Valley Alliance.^[10]

The ICU attempted to curb the private possession of technicals, impounding them or appropriating them for use by the army of the Islamic Courts:

We were sceptical, but everyone we have spoken to since — doctors, teachers, journalists, shopkeepers — has talked of a city transformed. Gone are the ubiquitous checkpoints where the warlords’ militias killed, extorted and stole. Gone are their technicals, Jeeps with heavy machineguns mounted on the back. The infamous Bakaro arms markets has been closed. The only guns and technicals now are those of the Sharia courts enforcers, and the reports of violence in the papers were of the Ipswich murders.^[11]

On November 13, 2006, the President of Puntland, General Adde Musa personally led 50 battlewagons to Galkayo to confront the Islamists; they were used a month later alongside Abdi Qeybdid's reconstituted militia, backed by heavy Ethiopian reinforcements, against the army of the Islamic Courts Union at the Battle of Bandiradley.^[12]

However, forced into conventional battles in the War in Somalia of 2006–07, the unarmored technicals of the ICU proved no match for the T-55 tanks, fighter bombers and helicopter gunships employed by Ethiopia.

[edit] Afghanistan

US Special Forces are known to use technicals for patrol of the rugged terrain of Afghanistan.^[13] The Taliban also used technicals while they were in power.^[14]^[15]

[edit] Iraq

Technicals were used by Iraqi forces in the 2003 invasion of Iraq.^[16] The Iraqi Republican Guard and Fedayeen emulated tactics of the Somali National Alliance with limited success,^[17]^[18] but were outmatched by Coalition armour and aviation.^[19]^[20] In the aftermath of the invasion Technicals saw use by Iraqi insurgents (some of them former members of the Fedayeen) for transporting personnel and quick raids against the Iraqi police Forces. The insurgent use of Technicals increased after the Iraq Spring Fighting of 2004.

All models of the Humvee (e.g. M1114) allow for weapon mounts by design, thus the HMMWV is not generally classified the same as a technical.

The Coalition also supplied technicals to the Iraqi police.^[21] Private military contractors also use technicals.^[4]

[edit] Sudan

Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) militia with a Toyota truck in Darfur

Janjaweed militias use technicals on their raids against civilian villages in Darfur, Sudan,^[22] as do the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) troops in defense of their areas of operations.

[edit] Popular Culture

Presaging their advent in science fiction, improvised weapons-mounted vehicles featured prominently in the 1981 post-apocalyptic movie Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior starring Mel Gibson^[23]
Technicals figure prominently in the movie Black Hawk Down.
A Technical is seen in a flashback sequence in the movie The Terminator.^[24]
Technicals appear in many modern combat simulation computer games such as Shattered Union, Command & Conquer: Generals,^[25] Battlefield 2: Special Forces,^[26] and SOCOM 3: U.S. Navy SEALs;^[27] a "Toyota Wars" mod for the Libya-Chad War was also created by Operation Flashpoint fans.^[28]
The Russian Mafia faction in 2005's third-person shooter Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction employs technicals.
Hobbycraft Canada have made a 1/35 scale model of an Iraqi Fedayeen technical with a recoilless rifle mounted on the back.^[29]
Top Gear has made an extensive feature about the Toyota Hilux where they say it's virtually undestructible. The beginning of the sketch shows the use of this pick-up truck as a technical.