Ford F-150 Seen Borrowing Military Armor to Shield Profit

There are beer cans, and then there are Humvees. Ford Motor Co. will take pains to show its new, aluminum F-150 pickup has more in common with combat vehicles.

Ford will debut an aluminum F-Series -- its anticipated and high-stakes redesign of the top-selling pickup in history -- at next month’s Detroit auto show, according to people familiar with Ford’s plans. The automaker has asked Alcoa Inc., which makes aluminum blast shields for battlefield-bound vehicles, to lend some of its military-grade metal for the automaker’s display, said one of those people, who asked not to be identified because the plans are secret.