Hilux or Armor? Pakistan’s Counter-Terrorism Forces Need Protection, Not Just Mobility
Opinion
By Major (R) Haroon Rasheed. Defense & Strategic Analyst specializing in South Asian military dynamics, deterrence strategy, and defense modernization; Member, Research and Evaluation Cell for Advancing Basic Amenities and Development, Writer and Defense Contributor — Pakistan First & Pakistan Hamesha Zindabad.
For decades, the Toyota Hilux and similar pickup trucks have served Pakistan’s military, paramilitary, and police forces extremely well. They are reliable, relatively inexpensive to maintain, capable of operating on difficult terrain, and, importantly, widely available.
In many parts of Pakistan, particularly Balochistan and the former tribal areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, mobility is itself a major military requirement.
But the nature of the terrorist threat has changed.
Petroleum Levy: Public Relief Amid Economic Challenges
Senior Journalist Payal Mehta Dies at 46 in Mumbai, Modi and Political Leaders Pay Tribute
For more such Opinions & Blogs, click here.
The question Pakistan now needs to ask is not whether the Hilux is a good vehicle. It is. The question is whether a lightly protected pickup remains appropriate as the primary troop carrier when the enemy increasingly employs IEDs, roadside bombs, ambushes, heavy automatic weapons, and coordinated attacks.
Recent events in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan make this question increasingly urgent.
Hangu another warning.
On September 20, 2026, two officers and four other personnel were martyred during an engagement involving a security-forces convoy in Hangu, while ISPR reported that eight militants were killed. This came only days after a roadside IED attack in Hangu on September 17 killed six soldiers.
These incidents demonstrate a difficult reality. A convoy traveling through a high-threat area can become vulnerable before the soldiers even have an opportunity to engage the attacker.
An IED does not give a soldier a fair fight. The attacker chooses the location, timing, and method. If the vehicle carrying troops lacks adequate blast protection, the consequences can be catastrophic.
Balochistan presents an even Greater Challenge
The problem is not confined to KP. Balochistan's enormous distances, sparse population, and difficult terrain make vehicle mobility essential for security forces. At the same time, the province has witnessed repeated attacks on security personnel and government facilities.
Iran Sets Conditions for Ending War, Seeks Qatar Pakistan Mediation With Trump
Rahul Gandhi Says 6 People Run the System in India, Targets Modi Shah Doval Bhagwat Adani and Ambani
Kejriwal and 110 Family Members Missing from Delhi Draft Voter List
In September, an ambush on a paramilitary convoy in Balochistan's Ziarat area was reported by Al Jazeera, although the Pakistani military did not officially acknowledge that particular incident.
On September 20, security forces also conducted an operation near Kalat after militants established a checkpoint on the N-25 highway. Five militants were killed, and 23 abducted people were recovered, according to ISPR.
Earlier, in January 2025, an IED planted on a motorcycle targeted an FC vehicle in Chaman. The FC personnel survived, although three civilians were injured.
These incidents illustrate the expanding spectrum of threats confronting Pakistan's security vehicles.
The problem is older than today's attacks.
This is not a new realization.
Back in 2014, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police began adding steel protection to hundreds of pickup vehicles because of increasing IED and small-arms threats. Contemporary reporting, however, quoted police officials acknowledging that these modified vehicles could not replace proper APCs and that stronger explosives could still defeat them.
That observation remains relevant more than a decade later.
Pakistan has continued to improve its protected-vehicle fleet.
In 2025, for example, KP Police acquired B7-protection-level armored personnel carriers specifically to strengthen counterterrorism operations.
The issue, therefore, is not that Pakistan has no armored vehicles.
The issue is scale, distribution, and suitability for routine operations.
The Hilux is not the enemy
It would be unfair to blame the Hilux itself.
Renowned Stage Actor and Comedian Asif Iqbal Dies of Heart Attack in Lahore
Trump Signs Russia Sanctions Law, India and China Face Risk of Up to 100% US Tariffs
Explosions Heard in Riyadh as Saudi Arabia Issues Air-Raid Alert Amid Escalating Houthi Conflict
A pickup truck is designed primarily for mobility, logistics, and utility—not for absorbing the blast of a modern IED or protecting a squad of soldiers from a deliberate ambush.
Cages, steel plates, and improvised armor can improve survivability against certain threats. But, there is a fundamental difference between adding protection to a utility vehicle and designing a vehicle around crew survivability.
Modern counterterrorism operations require the latter.
The vehicle should ideally provide protection against blast and fragmentation, adequate ballistic protection, protected seating, fuel-system safety, run-flat capability where appropriate, communications integration, and sufficient mobility for Pakistan's mountainsemi-desert environments.
There is another important point: APC does not necessarily mean a huge tracked armored vehicle.
Pakistan needs a family of protected vehicles.
Pakistan needs a protected mobility family.
There should be different categories for different missions.
For routine patrols and the movement of small teams, a 4×4 protected patrol vehicle would be appropriate.
For transporting larger numbers of troops into high-threat areas, Pakistan needs mine-resistant and blast-protected troop carriers.
For quick-reaction forces, CTD, police and paramilitary units, relatively compact armored vehicles would be valuable.
For Balochistan's long-distance routes, the emphasis should be on a combination of range, mine protection, ballistic protection, and reliability.
The objective should not be to replace every Hilux overnight.
That would neither be financially practical nor operationally necessary.
Governor Punjab Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar talks with party delegations
ACE recovered more than Rs. 8.6 millions from the defaulters of government
A family whose three members were killed by their opponents demanded arrest of the killers dues
Instead, the Hilux should increasingly be reserved for lower-threat logistics and support duties, while protected vehicles become the standard for personnel routinely operating in identified high-threat areas.
Pakistan should also look inward
There is an opportunity here for Pakistan's own defense industry.
Pakistan already possesses significant experience in armored vehicle production and military engineering. The country should, therefore, move toward a larger indigenous program for 4×4 and 6×6 protected mobility vehicles, rather than relying exclusively on expensive imported platforms.
A modular design could be particularly useful.
The same basic chassis could be configured as:
- troop carrier;
- command vehicle;
- ambulance;
- reconnaissance vehicle;
- communications platform;
- bomb-disposal support vehicle;
- electronic-warfare platform;
- quick-reaction CT vehicle.
This would reduce logistics and maintenance costs while allowing the armed forces and police to acquire vehicles according to mission requirements.
Protection must become part of the counterterrorism doctrine
There is another lesson.
Armor alone can not defeat terrorism.
A protected vehicle can reduce casualties, but it can not prevent an ambush. Pakistan, therefore, needs a broader approach combining intelligence, route surveillance, drones, electronic surveillance, counter-IED capabilities, communications, night vision, and rapid-response forces.
But once an attack begins, the vehicle is the soldier's first layer of physical protection.
That layer can not be treated as an afterthought.
Pakistan conducted more than 75,000 security operations during 2025, according to a government report, while security-force personnel constituted a substantial proportion of those killed in terrorism-related violence.
Senate elections, which candidates’ nomination papers were accepted?
Tokyo stocks closed lower on profit-taking, taking a pause after recent rallies.
Barty had raised expectations of ending Australia’s 43-year wait for a home win
When thousands of operations are being conducted every year, even a modest improvement in vehicle survivability can translate into a significant reduction in casualties.
A soldier deserves more than mobility
Pakistan's soldiers, police officers, and paramilitary personnel routinely operate in some of the world's most difficult counterterrorism environments.
They patrol mountains, highways, towns, and isolated settlements where an enemy can exploit terrain and surprise.
Giving such personnel a vehicle that takes them to the battlefield but offers inadequate protection once they arrive is an increasingly questionable proposition.
The Hilux has served Pakistan faithfully for generations.
But weapons evolve, tactics evolve, and threats evolve. Vehicles must evolve with them.
The recent bloodshed in Hangu and continuing attacks in Balochistan should therefore be treated not simply as individual tragedies but as another reminder that Pakistan needs to accelerate the transition from improvised protection toward properly designed protected mobility.
The requirement is not for every soldier to travel in a heavily armored vehicle.
The requirement is for every soldier entering a known high-threat environment to have a realistic level of protection appropriate to the threat.
That is not a luxury.
It is force protection—and in today's counterterrorism environment, force protection is an essential component of combat capability.
For more such Opinions & Blogs, click here.
Fortnite maker Epic Games lodged a complaint against Apple
Complete shutdown in IIOJK on EU diplomats’ visit today
Police cracks down on Hurriyat leaders, activists in IIOJK
Three People Killed in Kabul Security Incidents
Biden team looks to repair US ties with Europe in first NATO meet
By Major (R) Haroon Rasheed. Defense & Strategic Analyst specializing in South Asian military dynamics, deterrence strategy, and defense modernization; Member, Research and Evaluation Cell for Advancing Basic Amenities and Development, Writer and Defense Contributor — Pakistan First & Pakistan Hamesha Zindabad.
Stay tuned to Baaghi TV for more. Download our app for the latest news, updates & uncensored content!
Further Reads
