VAPO: Vulnerability Assessment and Protection Option
Challenge
In response to real world terrorist threats, the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) initiated the VAPO program to fill gaps in the vulnerability assessment process. Given modern computing hardware, the need for installation-wide analysis of vulnerabilities could be met while keeping calculation runtimes down to minutes. VAPO addresses the challenge of providing both breadth and depth of predicted results while keeping runtimes down to an acceptable level for the vulnerability assessor.
Solution
Since 2003, VAPO has provided vulnerability assessors with state of the art modeling and simulation capabilities. ARA employees possess the varied and unique skillsets necessary to develop a production ready software application backed by decades of blast, structure, and vulnerability research. VAPO combines an immersive 3-D view of the assessment site so that users can model realistic scenes that are convincing to their customers. VAPO relies on a calculation engine that predicts the effects of a terrorist threat including air blast, fragmentation, cratering, structural damage, equipment damage, glazing damage, and human injury statistics. VAPO provides results in 3D, HTML, and 2-D plot formats to convey information to decision makers.
VAPO provides the user with detailed engineering results for complicated phenomena such as air blast, fragmentation, cratering, structural damage, and human injury. Results from these engineering methodologies are calculated on the order of seconds to minutes, allowing the user to quickly model a site and get information that aids in decision making.
