a b s t r a c t Flows transported across mobile ad hoc wireless networks suffer from route breakups caused by nodal mobility. In a network that aims to support critical interactive real-time data transactions, to provide for the uninterrupted execution of a transaction, or for the rapid transport of a high value file, it is essential to identify robust routes across which such transactions are transported. Noting that route failures can induce long re-routing delays that may be highly interruptive for many applications and message/stream transactions, it is beneficial to configure the routing scheme to send a flow across a route whose lifetime is longer, with sufficiently high probability, than the estimated duration of the activity that it is selected to carry. We evaluate the ability of a mobile ad hoc wireless network to distribute flows across robust routes by introducing the robust throughput measure as a performance metric. The utility gained by the delivery of flow messages is based on the level of interruption experienced by the underlying transaction. As a special case, for certain applications only transactions that are completed without being prematurely interrupted may convey data to their intended users that is of acceptable utility. We describe the mathematical calculation of a network's robust throughput measure, as well as its robust throughput capacity. We introduce the robust flow admission and routing algorithm (RFAR) to provide for the timely and robust transport of flow transactions across mobile ad hoc wireless network systems.