Base on the analysis of the coaxial coupling theory, the experimental model of the coaxial cable short-range coupling lightning electromagnetic pulse is established to study the problem of coaxial cable short-range coupling lightning electromagnetic pulse on the ship mast and high tower. The combination wave generator is used to simulate the 8/20 μs lightning current waveform, and the metal bar with the length of 1 m and diameter of 0.016 m is used to simulate the lightning channel as the radiation source. The length of the coaxial cable and the distance from the radiation source are changed for the test. The conclusion is as follows: when the coaxial cable is coupled with lightning wave in a short distance, the voltage waveform of cable terminal is still double exponential wave, with strong damping oscillation at 0.1 ∼0.4 μs. When the cable terminal is open circuit or connected with matching resistance, the rising time is shorter, about 1 μs; when the cable terminal shielding layer is grounded, the rising time is longer, about 10 μs. The peak voltage and energy coupled to the coaxial cable at short distance are positively correlated with the cable length, and inversely correlated with the distance from the radiation source. The energy that the cable is coupled to mainly comes from the low-frequency part, and there are multiple energy peaks below 100 Hz. Using fitting curve and experimental data, when the coaxial cable terminal is open circuit, the lightning current reaches 30 kA, the cable length is 30 m, and the distance from the lightning channel is 0.15 m, the peak value of the voltage coupled to the cable terminal is 66 V. It has certain guiding significance and value in the practical application of electromagnetic pulse protection.