57 



HOUSE COMMITTEE ON MERCHANT MARINE AND FISHERIES 



SUBCOMMITTEE ON OCEANOGRAPHY, 



GULF OF MEXICO AND THE OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF 



HEARING ON: DUAL USE OF DEFENSE TECHNOLOGY 



AUGUST 4, 1993 



QUESTIONS FOR THE RECORD TO MR. ROBERT W. WINOKUR 



Question 3. You state that Naval submerslbles may be available to the civilian 

 community for as many as 120 days per year. Is this due to a reduction of 

 Navy usage? How many days per year are the subs used by the Navy? Where 

 would the funds for civilian use come from? 



Answer: The Navy initiative to expand access to Navy submerslbles was 

 focused primarily on the Deep Submergence Vehicles DSV SEA CLIFF and 

 TURTLE. The 60 days of support of oceanographic research was based on a 

 number of factors such as support vessel availability, maintenance schedules, 

 and Navy requirements for deep ocean search, inspection, and recovery. Since 

 this policy was adopted, the Navy has acquired several Remotely Operated 

 Vehicles (ROVs) which now perform some of the undersea search and recovery 

 work previously done exclusively by the DSVs, permitting them to be used 

 more for oceanographic research. In addition, Submarine NR-1 Is available for 

 use by the civilian academic community. For all submerslbles and ROVs, the 

 Navy can accommodate T 20 days for civilian research. 



Support for civilian use Is outside the Navy mission and no funds are 

 available, especially today with a severely reduced Navy budget. Navy Is 

 willing to operate the vehicles, but funding must be provided. Finds for these 

 civilian projects are normally provided by the users. The current arrangement 

 Is for NOAA's National Undersea Research Program (NURP) to pay for the 

 submersible time to support civilian researchers. NURP's present budget Is 

 Insufficient to support 120 days of Navy submersible time. Augmentation of 

 NURP's budget would enhance this cooperative program with NCAA. The 

 participation with NURP by other civil agencies with undersea research Interests 

 could provide an additional funding source for civilian use of Navy submerslbles. 



UNCLASSIFIED 



