Bob Beauprez: “reclaiming my time, as the chairman is aware, our larger ships such as carriers, amphibious, and logistic ships with…”

“reclaiming my time, as the chairman is aware, our larger ships such as carriers, amphibious, and logistic ships with many sailors and Marines embarked, could be vulnerable to torpedo attack. The threat increases when we move our ships from open ocean to restricted littoral waters where torpedo launch platforms such as diesel submarines and surface patrol craft can get closer to our ships and our reaction time is lessened. Currently, there is a proliferation of torpedoes of various types available on the world market that could cause significant damage to our surface ships. These weapons could be launched from the shoreline or small boats, threats that we were not too worried about until the USS Cole incident. The gentleman and the Committee on Armed Services have provided the leadership needed for defense of our Navy ships and its sailors from torpedo attack through their support of the Surface Ship Torpedo Defense program. I agree with the gentleman that this is a very important program and believe that the Anti-Torpedo Torpedo is a key element of the program. My concern, Mr. Chairman, is that we have not made the type of progress on this issue that we likely should have. I would appreciate the chairman's thoughts on this.”