Little old, but interesting
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Road warrior
10:30 01 June 2001

From New Scientist Print Edition.
Will Knight

An armoured vehicle with enough gadgets to fill a James Bond car has been unveiled by US military researchers.

When fully completed, the SmarTruck will come equipped with a spinning laser gun, electrified door handles and a close range pepper spray. Its crew will be able to evade pursuers with a smokescreen and an oil slick - or by dropping hundreds of tacks from the truck's tail.

The vehicle is also only a prototype, but researchers at the US Army's National Automotive Centre (NAC) in Warren, Michigan believe it will be ready for military use within two to five years. Eventually, it will be used to protect VIPs in motorcades and to aid soldiers in urban combat situations, says Mitch Kozera, leader of the centre's vehicle intelligence team.

"It will have the ability to get people out of a difficult situation quickly," Kozera told New Scientist. "What is being created is the ability to defend and be compact."

Kozera's team has spent about £700,000 customising a Ford F350 truck, which itself costs £31,000.

It is not surprising that the truck sounds like something from the latest Bond movie. Dennis Wend, director of the NAC, says the designers took inspiration from the classic spy films.

As a result, the SmarTruck comes with all the gadgets any secret agent could want. These include a global positioning navigation system, night vision cameras and an on-board computer, which uses fingerprint identification technology.

Strengthened bullet-proof glass and Kevlar body armour mean the truck will be able to withstand a .44 magnum handgun fired at close range, say its creators.

The SmarTruck prototype was developed with commercial partners including International Armouring, Delphi Automotive Systems, and Integrated Concepts and Research Corporation (ICRC).

http://www.tacom.army.mil/tardec/nac US Army National Automotive Centre

http://www.icrc-hq.com/st.htm ICRC's SmarTruck page

Too late for christmas list's huh? Shucks. I was thinking about doing that to my camaro anyways. I saw a gatling at a gun-expo and wondered whether or not its legal for me to strap that to the roof of said camaro. I thought it'd look nice. My father suggested otherwise.

Always next year.

" bullet-proof glass and Kevlar body armour mean the truck will be able to withstand a .44 magnum"

The weapon of choice for attacking armoured cars :rolleyes:

As for the "James Bond" gadgets, you could rig those up for minor money and stuff found in your garage.

$700 000, for what?

.44 Magnum isn't that much though. Use a semi-auto rifle and you will defeat it with I think 3 shots tops. Or use a sawn off shotgun or whatever. a 44. magnum isn't going to be the weapon of choice if they really want to kill you. If you are rich enough to buy a SmartTruck then the criminels will spend more money then a simple .44 Magnum ;)

Yes, the .44 magnum comment made me grin too!

I've got better armour than that upstairs! Well know military round too, don't you know?

(For those not in the know, the SS109 .223 rifle round will penetrate 6mm of steel, and 30-06 AP will go through more than that (1.5"), at sub-100 yards - or right through the truck, the driver, and the back. .44 Magnum is a very good handgun round, but not in the same league as a dedicated rifle.)

A laser gun? What will they do, blind them? Or maybe they will use it as terrorists and shine it at airplanes. Woooo terrorists!!!!!!!