The video points out two of the protection features, but they wouldn't do so well with a RUD. The tower features - the hold-down arms, etc - are painted with a

The video points out two of the protection features, but they wouldn't do so well with a RUD. The tower features - the hold-down arms, etc - are painted with a sacrificial paint. The idea is that it's the paint that chars and burns, rather than the tower features. Then there's the water deluge system. In the video, the rocket and exhaust is clear of the tower, and the fires are out, within 30 seconds. Neither the sacrificial paint nor the water deluge are designed to handle long-duration fires from a RUD. After a 2014 Antares rocket failure, the launchpad at Wallops Flight Facility took 1 year and $15 million to repair [1]. [1] http://www.space.com/31412-virginia-launchpad-private-rocket-launches.html http://www.space.com/31412-virginia-launchpad-private-rocket...