Permanent bunkers and high-security facilities are standard tools for protecting the nation's most sensitive assets. But in many environments, these options are not available where secure storage is needed most.
To meet that challenge, a team at Sandia National Laboratories has developed a mobile, high-security vault that can be rapidly deployed to safeguard critical materials in remote or temporary locations.
Built in response to a request from the National Nuclear Security Administration's Stockpile Responsiveness Program, the vault is housed in a 20-foot shipping container and was designed, constructed and demonstrated in just six months.
Sandia's Transportation Safeguards and Surety Program led the effort, which is now advancing to the next phase. The team is building two additional full-scale prototypes and will participate in Grey Flag 25, a Department of Defense joint exercise that simulates real-world operational challenges to test hardware readiness. The team also plans to transition the technology to industry for broader production and use.
"Executing the Mobile Vault project has been the most rewarding and exciting project I've worked on in my career," said Stephen Neidigk, a Sandia manager. "When we demonstrated the full functional vault to the customer exactly six months to the day, I almost couldn't believe it. The drive and passion the team has for this project is like nothing I've seen before."
Prototypes for rapid design
To meet the compressed timeline, the team adopted a rapid design process that emphasized speed and creativity over rigid specifications. For example, instead of defining a fixed delay time in the project's requirements, the team focused on maximizing performance within volume and weight constraints.
Within two weeks, the team had selected a final concept from 10 proposed designs.
"A Sandia design thinking course on hands-on prototyping influenced our approach," Neidigk said. "We focused on quick iteration, user feedback and learning through low-fidelity models. It aligned perfectly with my practice of moving straight from whiteboard sketches to physical prototypes."
An engineer on the team created the first model: a 1:14-scale model of the vault inside a shipping container, complete with a ramp and miniature mock weapons, all built for under $500. The model helped spark feedback from end users and decision-makers, and it became a fixture in design reviews.
"I brought the model to every meeting during the six-month effort," Neidigk said. "Now, 15 similar models are on the desks of leaders at U.S. Combatant Commands, the Pentagon and U.S. Strategic Command."
To speed up fabrication of the full-scale prototype, the team used a model-based manufacturing approach. A mechanical engineer developed a 3D solid model, which enabled early procurement of long-lead items like the semi-custom vault door and structural materials before the design was finalized.
Bring in more experts
Other engineers worked on-site with the fabricator to ensure early production met quality and scheduling targets. As the design matured, the team provided a detailed build specification to communicate requirements that could not be captured in the digital model.
Meanwhile, an electrical engineer developed the vault's access control, backup power, sensors and alarm systems. By combining additive manufacturing, reusable components and off-the-shelf development boards, they delivered a functional prototype in half the usual time.
As hardware arrived at Sandia, other staff contributed fabrication expertise, including welding, machining, sheet metal work and rapid prototyping. The project relied on some of Sandia's largest tools to stay on pace, including overhead cranes and the biggest forklift at Sandia.
Six months after the project began, the team successfully demonstrated a fully functional mobile vault prototype, offering a flexible, scalable solution to help protect the nation's most critical assets, wherever they're needed.
