Watch: Russian Testing Facility Simulates Nuclear Blasts To Test Its Robots And Military Vehicles Ever wonder exactly what would happen to your everyday items in the event of a nuclear blast? Well, so does Russia. In fact, because Russian military vehicles may need to withstand such a blast, they are actually tested for durability in the face of the type of damage that could occur from a nuclear-style explosion, according to RT. While Russia doesn't actually conduct nuclear explosions for testing purposes, there are testing facilities that are set up to produce "near-perfect" models of the effects of a nuclear explosion: an avalanching blast wave, thermal radiation and a devastating electromagnetic pulse. And in addition to nuclear blasts, the testing facility also makes sure that Russian military equipment can withstand occurrences like lightning strikes. The facility – known as the Russian Defense Ministry’s 12th Central Research Institute – recently tested a "family" of military unmanned ground vehicles that includes five models ranging from a small recon robot to a 13 ton armed personnel carrier, which can be manned or under remote control. In addition to the robots, the facility also tested the command posts that would hold the robot's operators. One test has a blast wave simulated by using a special blast tube that is over 110 meters long. An explosion at one end of the tunnel is used to create a shockwave that is similar to what happens in a nuclear blast. The blast is enough to "send a seven-ton Soviet BMD-1 infantry fighting vehicle tumbling like a papier-maché model," according to the report. Includes some interesting archive footage of a BMD-1 test from another site pic.twitter.com/I8eV1VepV2 — Joseph Dempsey (@JosephHDempsey) https://twitter.com/JosephHDempsey/status/1193476714548092928?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+"://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs"); Civilian vehicles didn't hold up well, either, during the tests. Shockwaves were strong enough to crush a civilian car flat. But the command post mounted on a truck, shown here... ...can withstand the force, however. Other tests involved checking if remotely controlled vehicles could endure electromagnetic pulses and other disturbances. Many of these pulses can knock out electronics, which can be fatal to robots controlled from a distance. You can watch the setup and full tests in this 30 minute Russian TV program that tracked the process closely: Tyler Durden Thu, 11/21/2019 - 23:25