The prototyping project is the first stage in an effort to bring more startups, small businesses and other non-traditional defense contractors into the field. The $8.1 million, one-year prototyping initiative asks an independent data processing company to study the utility of commercial data for the Air Force’s Global Air-Land Weather Exploitation Model. U.S. Air Force and Army combatant commanders use GALWEM to inform daily operations, combat missions and exercises. Data in the report will include information gathered when Category 4 Hurricane Michael made landfall near Tyndall Air Force Base recently.