Praxis: The Toyota Pickup Truck Is the War Chariot of the Third World

Enter the Technical.

Light, long-range and mounting powerful weapons, the Chadian trucks were the modern equivalent of Apache warriors on horses and armed with Winchester rifles.

The Chadians used a combination of diversionary tactics and raids to demoralize and defeat Libyan troops. Columns of Chadian army Toyotas would appear in one direction, drawing the attention of the Libyans. The main Chadian force would then approach from the opposite direction and attack with missiles, destroying the previously invulnerable Libyan tanks.

At the Battle of Fada, 4,000 to 5,000 Chadian troops in Toyota pickup trucks defeated a Libyan armored brigade, killing 784 Libyans and their allies. Nearly 100 Libyan tanks and more than 30 armored personnel carriers were destroyed in the fighting. Chadian losses were a mere 18 troops and three Toyotas.

Chad scored a similar victory against the Libyan air base at Ouadi Doum. The war sputtered to a close after the Chadians, overconfident by their admittedly impressive string of victories, counter-invaded Libya. The Libyans eventually beat back the Chadian incursion and declared victory. But the Aouzou Strip remained part of Chad.

The introduction of Toyota pickup trucks is considered so influential that the last year of the conflict is popularly known as “The Toyota War.”