 In the early 1970s , the Navy withdrew from the project . Stormfury began to refocus its efforts on understanding , rather than modifying , tropical cyclones . At the same time , the Project 's aircraft were nearing the end of their operational lifetimes . At the cost of $ 30 million ( year unknown ) two Lockheed P @-@ 3 's were acquired . Due to the rarity of Atlantic hurricanes meeting the safety requirements , plans were made to move Stormfury to the Pacific and experiment on the large number of typhoons there . This action required many of the same safety requirements as in the Atlantic , but had the advantage of a much higher number of potential subjects . 
