Or rather, the operators who would use the Navistar SOTV-B would want you to think there’s absolutely nothing special about it. It is the ultimate blank pick up truck for clandestine environments. And if that’s not anonymous enough for you, it can look like any truck your heart desires.
Special Forces troops tend to like a variety of vehicles, but one of the main problems that members of Western Special Forces face in hostile territory is that they tend to stick out like a sore thumb. Sneaking around isn’t exactly fruitful if you’re doing it in, say, a Humvee, or an M1 Abrams tank. People are going to know that it’s not your average weaponized beardsman covered head-to-toe in desert camouflage.
It’s likely going to be a bunch of Americans, conducting some, let’s just say, “business.”
To avoid that scenario, American (and other NATO) special forces tend to run around in a variety of civilian pickups, including Toyota Tacomas they just pick up from regular dealerships stateside. Which is fine, I guess, until someone starts shooting at you. Because a Tacoma, while tough, isn’t bulletproof.
So therein lies the problem. You can either have a generic pickup, that no one will pick out in traffic, or, if someone does pick you out in traffic, you can have a behemoth that any baddie can spot from a 12 miles away.
Enter the Navistar SOTV-B.
From the outside, it looks like any old, beat up, Generic Pickup Truck. There’s not even any badging on it.
And better yet, Navistar (the company which builds it) says that they can skin the truck to look like any on the market. Launching a guerilla campaign in the Houston suburbs? Make it a Ford F-150. Fighting drug smugglers in South America? Make it look like a Volkswagen Amarok.
But underneath, it’s based on an up-armored, off-road capable, and electronically modular pickup called the SOTV-A, and it’s pretty much exactly the vehicle Special Forces needs:
And under the hood, it’s got a four-cylinder Cummins diesel which can pump out 250 horsepower and 600 (!!!!!!!!!!) pound-feet of torque.
Navistar isn’t saying exactly what the SOTV is capable of, owing to security concerns, and they haven’t officially sold any yet to any militaries.
But an armored, off-roading pickup that can look like anything I want depending on how I feel that day?
Yes. Yes please.
Contact the author at ballaban@jalopnik.com.
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