Meteorological Data Sources for Planning and Executing - U.S. Department of Defense Precision Airdrop Operations

Currently, Dropsondes are released from the airdrop aircraft on the first pass near the planned drop zone to collect localized wind information and compute an optimized air release point and launch acceptability region. During descent, the dropsonde data is transmitted to the aircraft, transferred to the JPADS-MP, and used to compute an air release point. The aircraft must then make a second pass over the objective area to deliver the payload.

A new technology is requested by Air Mobility Command to get weather data quicker and more efficiently to mitigate having to do multiple passes over a drop zone. The goal is to obtain the weather data quick enough that the airdrop mission can be executed within one pass, creating efficiency and fuel savings.