Army rolling out smart truck

The Army is preparing to unveil a new concept truck—smarTruck—that is touted as having "James Bond-like" capabilities.

The light tactical vehicle, a production model Ford F-350, is designed to provide the Army with an electronic platform to test, integrate and showcase cutting-edge technologies entering the market from the automotive industry.

The initiative allows the Army to insert the latest wireless communication, situational awareness and soldier safety technologies into its tactical wheeled vehicles. The objective is to demonstrate these technologies through the integration of commercially available intelligent subsystems using a standard data link.

The truck is capable of disorienting the enemy with its headlights, fending off attackers with electrified door handles, and emitting smoke screens to obscure a pursuer's line of vision, among other things.

It will be unveiled at 2 p.m. March 5 at the Society of Automotive Engineers' World Congress in Detroit. The truck will be at the Tank-automotive and Armaments Command's National Automotive Center booth.

The National Automotive Center is an element of TACOM and is the Army's focal point to develop automotive technologies in partnership with industry, academia and other government agencies. It integrates commercial and military research to improve the performance of military ground vehicles. It accelerates the exchange and implementation of automotive technologies by fostering relationships and forming cost-sharing partnerships.