Tesla installations in the Moscow region

Недалеко от железнодорожной станции Новоиерусалимской есть секретный испытательный комплекс Высоковольтного научно-исследовательского центра Всероссийского электротехнического института. В народе их условно называют «установками Теслы». Это испытательный стенд для экспериментов с высоким напряжением. Использовался для различных испытаний, связанных с электричеством: симуляция молний, тестирование изоляции и тому подобное.

Пройти сюда просто. Охрана приветливая. Принимает пожертвования на корм собакам.

The complex resembles some alien thing from an 80s movie. These are cascades of alternating current transformers.

The floor underneath it has long rotted and is crumbling.

The tower is a Marx generator, generating pulsed voltages up to 9 megavolts.

A current-carrying wire is stretched between the Marx tower and another tower, sagging in the middle. A discharge similar to a lightning strike occurs between it and an object on the ground.

This is how various objects, such as airplanes, are tested for their susceptibility to high-voltage strikes. Of course, nobody would start the installation just for me, but it looks something like this.

The security guard says that tests are still occasionally conducted here, and they even brought in some new equipment. It would be nice to believe. In any case, the tower is wrapped in polyethylene. Perhaps it’s necessary that way.

I chose a suitable time for the visit — there was heavy rain and lightning flashing nearby. After I captured the main objects, the supervisor arrived, and the security asked me to leave.

That’s a shame. Usually, visitors are offered to see unique photographs of the stand’s operation, which cannot be found on the Internet, and they are told about its structure.