WTF?! The US Air Force wants two Tesla Cybertrucks. The plan isn't to use them for transportation purposes, though; the EVs will be used for target practice. According to official documents, the trucks are a lot tougher than normal vehicles, meaning enemies are more likely to buy them – so the USAF wants to practice blowing them up.
Federal contracting documents posted online by the US Air Force Material Command show that the military branch is looking for a supplier that can provide 33 towable target vehicles. They will be sent to White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico to support US Special Operations Command (SOCOM).
Another document shows that the Air Force wants two of these vehicles to be Tesla Cybertrucks. It explains that the enemy may transition to the EVs as they "have been found not to receive the normal extent of damage upon major impact," presumably compared to the likes of Toyota Tacomas or Ford F-150s.
TWZ writes that the target vehicles will be used to support SOCOM's Stand Off Precision Guided Munitions (SOPGM) program and training. This covers several air-launched precision-guided munitions, so the Air Force is going to blow up the Cybertrucks and other vehicles by firing bombs and missiles at them, basically.
The Cybertrucks don't need to be in working condition – as long as they are able to be towed behind another vehicle, they'll suffice.
The document justifies the inclusion of Tesla's EVs by highlighting market research that concluded the Cybertruck's aggressively angular and futuristic design, paired with its unpainted stainless steel exoskeleton, sets it apart from competitors typically using painted steel or aluminum bodies. It also mentioned that the 48V electrical architecture provides superior power and efficiency, "a feature that rivals are only beginning to develop."
One of the many claims that Elon Musk made about the "apocalypse-proof" Cybertruck is that it's bulletproof – the panels, not the windows. In March last year, YouTube channel JerryRigEverything, famed for the torture tests it carries out on phones, put this to the test by shooting the vehicle with a variety of weapons, ranging from a 9mm Glock 19 to a .50 cal rifle.
It was found that lower-velocity pistols struggled to do any significant damage to the truck, while larger-caliber rounds shredded through the doors and interior panels. One imagines it won't stand up well to being hit with a Hellfire missile.
According to recent data, Tesla sold just 4,306 Cybertrucks in Q2 2025, marking a 50.8% decrease compared to the 8,755 vehicles that were sold during the same period in 2024. The company recently began accepting trade-ins for the vehicle, which were showing depreciation rates as bad as 34 percent after one year and 6,000 miles.