Military Lightning Strike Protection

According to the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command Guide for Lightning Protective Measures for Personnel, nearly all lightning-related injuries and fatalities in the Army are caused by indirect effects (step potential and flashover) rather than direct strikes.

It’s this statistic as well as other factors specific to military life that Lightning Elimination Systems takes into account in its designs. For example, troops are outdoors for long periods of time, which may require not only a lightning warning system but the construction and/or outfitting of a separate shelter outfitted with a lightning strike protection system.

Other features indigenous to military, defense and homeland security operations include the presence of critical electronics that cannot go offline, observation towers particularly vulnerable to lightning strikes, and weapons or other potentially flammable storage facilities.

Military-specific lightning protection, lightning surge arrester and grounding systems considerations consist of:

Compliance with standards established by the various branches of the military, like U.S. Air Force requirements for electrical grounding systems (Air Force 32-1065) and the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps NAVSEA OP 5 standard for electrical equipment in hazardous or explosive areas.
Electrical grounding and bonding, often with static bus bars, to reduce the risk of explosion caused by static discharges in high-risk buildings such as ammunition and fuel depots. The installation of conductive floor surfaces to create equipotential conditions is often required.
Atypical lightning protection designs (such as catenary lightning protection) in places that cannot accommodate air terminals (such as buried munitions bunkers) or on military vehicles.
The need for voltage surge protection against electromagnetic pulse, high-attitude electromagnetic pulse and electromagnetic interference. These events can damage or destroy critical electronics and power systems on battleships and submarines.