Prior to its inaugural flight in the Pacific later this month, Congresswoman Madeleine Z. Bordallo was able to see first hand the new Weatherscout Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) and meet with Air Force officials leading the project this afternoon.

The Weatherscout UAV made the first ever unmanned flight into the heart of a hurricane when it flew into Hurricane Ophelia in September, collecting data at altitudes too low and too dangerous for manned flights. This low altitude data collection from within storms will broadly expand our understanding of their development, and will enhance the weather forecasters’ capability to predict these phenomena, something that will help communities across the nation better prepare.

The Weatherscout UAV has been on island since October 10, and is scheduled to perform tests over 300 flight hours during its 40-day test period. Congresswoman Bordallo has been instrumental in securing funding for the Weatherscout program and had encouraged the Air Force to send the Weatherscout to Guam.

“The Weatherscout will improve the Air Force’s and Guam’s ability to track typhoons and to understand their development. I am pleased with the arrival of the UAV for initial testing,” Bordallo said. “I am sure that the Weatherscout UAV will prove itself in this testing and will warrant full funding and fielding.”

“Stationing the Weatherscout on Guam would give the Pacific Air Force Command a weather data collection capacity it needs and currently lacks,” Bordallo continued, “This capacity would significantly help military and civil communities prepare at the earliest stages of typhoon development and thus enable the saving of lives and money.”

Background: The Weatherscout UAV is a robust low-cost unmanned aircraft that the Pacific Air Force Directorate of Weather, under the Pacific Command (PACOM), is developing to use in tracking typhoons in the Western Pacific. It provides high resolution information on shifting weather patterns. It is the only small, long-range UAV specifically designed for flying in severe typhoon weather conditions. It operates autonomously and is built to withstand severe weather, weighs less than 30 pounds and can fly for up to 24 hours. Congresswoman Bordallo was successful in authorizing $1.55 million in the Fiscal Year 2005 Department of Defense Authorization Act to test the new weather forecasting drone at Andersen AFB and has secured an additional $575,000 for testing in the Fiscal Year 2006 Department of Defense Authorization Act.