REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala. (Aug 25, 2014) -- Lightning can wreak havoc on day-to-day activities, so imagine what it can do to Army equipment in the field.

That's why the Army tests how lightning and other environmental factors affect hardware destined for troops. The Redstone Test Center has had lighting simulation capability since the early 1980s.

"It's to provide a lightning environment to test Army hardware to ensure safety and functionality of the equipment," Mark Walker, chief of the Electromagnetic Environmental Effects Test Division of RTC, said. "Lightning occurs in most locations where our troops will deploy."

The center has two lightning facilities: one at the E3 Test Division tests inert items and non-explosives; and the other at Test Area 5 tests live ordnance. The TA 5 facility, built around a containment cage, is the only one in the Department of Defense capable of performing that mission.

Both facilities can do direct strike and near strike testing. Direct strike tests the impact of about one million volts and 200,000 amps of electricity on equipment. Near strike tests the impact from such an electrical charge in the equipment's vicinity.

The facility at E3 Test Division was replaced two years ago to provide increased voltage and current, becoming more representative of a lightning environment. The 30-foot tower and surrounding pad are capable of conducting tests on any type of Army system in a deployment configuration.

Altogether the two sister facilities do from 10 to 15 lightning tests annually. Any new missile system or new tank round would typically undergo testing for a hazardous lightning direct strike.

"As far as I know, all the missiles in the Army's inventory have been tested for lightning," said senior lightning test engineer Tom Roy, who has worked at RTC since 1981.

Testing missiles for environmental effects such as lightning drew increased Army attention after a fatal accident nearly 30 years ago. On Jan. 11, 1985, three U.S. Soldiers were killed by a fire while unloading an unarmed Pershing missile in Germany. Static electricity and cold weather were deemed factors in this accident. Experts from RTC were part of the team sent to Europe to investigate the mishap, which alerted the Army that solid propellants can be sensitive to static electricity.

The accident "led to the enhancement of test capabilities to verify hardware would be safe for our troops," Walker said. The hazardous lightning facility at Test Area 5 was completed in 1986.

Operators of the inert facility include Roy, Randy Steelman and senior engineers Jeff Craven and Dr. Mark Waller. They test lightning's impact on safety, functionality and reliability. "The military equipment has to be hardened to survive this environment," Waller said.

"This facility could be used for far more pieces of Army equipment than simply missile systems," Walker said. "We have adapted to build test unique lightning capabilities for a variety of other platforms."