BIG BOYZ TOYZ
“I can hear the call to Aviva now:
‘What vehicle do I want to insure?
A 1996 Toyota Hi-Lux… Mounted
with twin 50 .cal machine guns,
a rocket pod and four grenade
launchers. Hello… Hello?’”
and sizes were requisitioned for use by
military and war departments. Who can
forget Mr Jones and his butcher’s van from
Dads Army? Such conversions were very
simple but others were much more heavily
modified; some were even converted into
armoured fighting vehicles.
Skip forward a fair few years to the
outbreak of civil war in the Balkans
and what we class as the modern day
Technical came to light. Again, all sides
used otherwise normal civilian vehicles
and converted them into everything from
weapons carriers to weapons platforms.
Pick-ups were the most popular as they
are easy to modify, but even little Yugo cars
were adapted and used as high mobility
heavy machine gun platforms.
Bringing it right up to date, Technicals are
in wide use in Africa and the Middle East
by militias and rebel forces alike. Using
captured weapons systems, sometimes
crudely mounted, these homemade war
machines have been used to devastating
effect in conflicts and wars over the last 20
years.
The film Blackhawk Down has a wonderful
scene showing how effective a Technical
can be. More recently in Libya the Technical
has come into its own and for me, has
become the star of the campaign. Looking
at the ingenuity that has gone into adapting
these vehicles to allow then to take on,
and conquer, proper military vehicles with
heavy armour is amazing. Scaffold poles
cut down and welded together, mounted
on the back of an old beaten up Toyota
Hi-Lux, make it a simple yet effective multilaunch rocket system (maybe don’t try that
at home). Of course, something similar to
this was evident in Northern Ireland back
in the 70s and 80s, but not on the sort of
scale we’re seeing in Libya. Other classy
conversions seen recently include a Nissan
pick-up with a liberated Russian-made
multi-barrel anti-aircraft gun mounted on
the back. There was even one I saw a few
weeks ago where a fighter jet’s rocket
pod had been mounted on the back, with
a simple wiring system and an ordinary
doorbell for a firing switch.
I want one!
With the scope of themed airsoft
skirmish and MilSim games that are
around, a Technical could fit right into
most scenarios, adding to the gameplay
and ambiance. Depending on how much
modification you carry out, it could still
be used as an everyday ‘grocery getter’
and then at the weekend, dripping with
weapons, lead the charge on an enemy
position! If there are a few of you in a team
it could also be a very cost effective way
of getting you and your kit to and from the
games. Plus the more input you get, the
more awesome you can make it.
www.airsoftactionmagazine.com
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