- News
- Jul 17, 2024
- 3 min read
NOAA Orders Second Gulfstream G550
The aircraft will be equipped with an array of atmospheric sensors.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is exercising an option under a $106 million contract with Gulfstream Aerospace to purchase a pre-owned G550 modified by the OEM to support hurricane and tropical storm forecasting, atmospheric research, and other missions. The fully equipped twin-engine aircraft, funded in part by the Inflation Reduction Act, is expected to join NOAA’s fleet in 2028.
It will be NOAA’s second G550. The first was ordered from Gulfstream in 2019 and will replace the agency’s aging GIV-SP when it is delivered in the second quarter of next year. That GIV-SP has been part of NOAA’s hurricane hunter fleet since 1996. Both G550s will be equipped with various sensors for collecting atmospheric data, including a tail-mounted Doppler radar system.
“These new aircraft will significantly enhance NOAA’s ability to collect data critical to hurricane research and forecasting, atmospheric river research and forecasting, climate studies, and other missions,” NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad said.
The G550’s service ceiling of 51,000 feet will allow the aircraft to create a detailed picture of atmospheric conditions above and around hurricanes and tropical cyclones so that NOAA can issue accurate forecasts. Data collected by the G550s will complement the low-altitude data gathered by NOAA’s Lockheed WP-3D Orions, which fly directly into storms.
According to the agency, the G550 aircraft will be based at NOAA’s Aircraft Operations Center in Lakeland, Florida, alongside other data-gathering aircraft.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is exercising an option under a $106 million contract with Gulfstream Aerospace to purchase a pre-owned G550 modified by the OEM to support hurricane and tropical storm forecasting, atmospheric research, and other missions. The fully equipped twin-engine aircraft, funded in part by the Inflation Reduction Act, is expected to join NOAA’s fleet in 2028.
It will be NOAA’s second G550. The first was ordered from Gulfstream in 2019 and will replace the agency’s aging GIV-SP when it is delivered in the second quarter of next year. That GIV-SP has been part of NOAA’s hurricane hunter fleet since 1996. Both G550s will be equipped with various sensors for collecting atmospheric data, including a tail-mounted Doppler radar system.
“These new aircraft will significantly enhance NOAA’s ability to collect data critical to hurricane research and forecasting, atmospheric river research and forecasting, climate studies, and other missions,” NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad said.
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The G550’s service ceiling of 51,000 feet will allow the aircraft to create a detailed picture of atmospheric conditions above and around hurricanes and tropical cyclones so that NOAA can issue accurate forecasts. Data collected by the G550s will complement the low-altitude data gathered by NOAA’s Lockheed WP-3D Orions, which fly directly into storms.
According to the agency, the G550 aircraft will be based at NOAA’s Aircraft Operations Center in Lakeland, Florida, alongside other data-gathering aircraft.
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