WC-130J Hurricane Hunters have flown data-gathering missions into seven Pacific tropical storms from JB Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, this season, capping off with Tropical Storm Ignacio on Tuesday. “During an El Niño year, the water gets much warmer and more moist than normal, causing a lot of storms to form over the Pacific as opposed to the Atlantic side, which is what we’re seeing happen this year,” 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron Aerial Reconnaissance Weather O?fficer Lt. Col. Brian Schroeder said in a release. The unit has flown only four Atlantic tropical storms thus far this season, including Hurricane Erika last week. Pacific storms have included hurricanes Blanca, Carlos, Guillermo, Hilda, and Ignacio, and tropical storms Ela and Kilo, according to the unit. This is the second year in a row WC-130Js have deployed to Hawaii from Keesler AFB, Miss., to monitor the Pacific hurricane season.
The rate of building B-21 bombers would speed up if the fiscal 2026 defense budget passes. But it remains unclear how much capacity would be added, and whether the Air Force would simply build the bombers faster, or buy more.
