The Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) Division Newport cut the ribbon and officially dedicated a new $11 million Maritime Subsurface Sensor Operations Laboratory on Tuesday, Aug. 16. Sen. Jack Reed and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse attended the event, as well as Rep. David Cicilline. NUWC attendees included the Warfare Center Commander Rear Adm. Thomas Wears and NUWC Technical Director Donald McCormack, and the NUWC Newport Technical Director Dr. Paul Lefebvre. "This project resulted in a significant addition to the towed array facility and a major upgrade to our capabilities," said Wears. Under construction since its July 31, 2009 ground breaking, the 40,000-square-foot, single-story laboratory provides secure workspace for the testing, refurbishment, and maintenance of towed arrays.