Case Study: Force Protection, Inc. achieves MRAP compliance and faster, safer vehicle designs with Altair HyperWorks

Analysis Support for a New Class of Military Vehicles

Force Protection, Inc. (FPI), a South Carolina defense manufacturer best known for the Buffalo MRAP vehicle, faced the challenge of meeting newly required military (MRAP) design standards and expanding analysis capability while growing rapidly. With no formal in-house analysis group, FPI needed tools and expertise to produce documentable finite element analyses for new variants such as the Cougar and Cheetah. They turned to Altair and the HyperWorks suite, along with Altair Product Design consulting, to fill that gap.

Altair delivered HyperWorks (including HyperMesh, RADIOSS and OptiStruct) and consulting support, enabling FPI to embed analysis early in the design process, import CAD cleanly, run advanced solvers, and outsource complex workloads with run-ready decks. The result was improved product quality, shorter development cycles, and verifiable standards compliance — including a ~20% stress reduction on a plate/bracket design and support for roughly 5,000 FPI MRAP vehicles deployed — helping Force Protection, Inc. better protect soldiers in the field.

Force Protection, Inc

Harley Wattrick

Director of Analysis