A chemical/biological vehicle survivability barrier (CVSB) has an inflatable air beam shelter (IABS), also referred to as a tunnel-like enclosure, for inserting and coupling to the interior of a vehicle. The CVSB further has at least one air handling and power unit (AHPU) coupled to an exterior fitting of the IABS. The AHPU withdraws potentially contaminated air from inside the tunnel-like enclosure, filtrates the air by removing contaminants from the air withdrawn, and returns the filtrated air back into the tunnel-like enclosure.