Senior U.S. Navy and government officials will open the Navy's new Magnetic Silencing Complex at 10:00 a.m. on October 7th, 2002 at the Naval Surface Warfare Center Carderock Division (NSWCCD) in Bethesda. NSWCCD commander Captain Steven Petri USN and executive director Mr. James Fein welcome U.S. Senator Paul Sarbanes and U.S. Representative Connie Morella as speakers. The $7.6 million complex totals 39,000 square feet and houses unique facilities for measuring magnetic fields of scaled surface ship and submarine ferromagnetic models, as well as full-scale shipboard equipment. The Navy uses such facilities reducing the susceptibility of ships and submarines to magnetic sea mines and magnetic detection systems.