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Technical (fighting vehicle)

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A technical in Liberia.

TFG soldiers in a technical near Baidoa

A technical is a type of improvised fighting vehicle, typically a civilian or military non-combat vehicle, modified to provide an offensive capability. 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. The term "technical" used to describe such a vehicle appears to have originated in Somalia. 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. The money used for the bribe was then written off as "technical expenses".^[1] Other terms for them are battlewagons,^[2] gunwagons,^[3] or gunships.^[4] 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 References
3 See also
4 External links

Combat history

'L' Detachment SAS in their armed jeeps, during the North African campaign of the Second World War

The history of such improvised fighting vehicles stems back through the era of the automobile and the machine gun, and even earlier, to the horse-drawn tachanka of eastern Europe. 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. A popular American television series The Rat Patrol of the 1960s very clearly illustrated the use of Technical-style vehicles during WWII. 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.

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]

Somalia

A technical in Mogadishu, in 1993.

Antiaircraft gun and machine gun 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 Farrah Aidid 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 machine guns 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, Mi-24 helicopter gunships and fighter bombers employed by Ethiopia.

Afghanistan

Durning the 2001 Invasion of Afghanistan, US Special Operations Forces, are known to use technicals for patrol of the rugged terrain and the nature of their clandestine operations.^[1] The Taliban also used technicals while they were in power.^[13]

Iraq

Technicals were used by Iraqi forces in the 2003 invasion of Iraq.^[14] The Iraqi Republican Guard and Fedayeen emulated tactics of the Somali National Alliance with limited success,^[15]^[16] but were outmatched by Coalition armour and aviation.^[17]^[18] 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.^[19] Private military contractors also use technicals.^[4]