Lawmakers on Friday demanded answers from the U.S. Navy about news reports that faulty welds may have been knowingly made on American submarines and aircraft carriers under construction at Newport News Shipbuilding in Virginia.

The revelations were first reported by US Naval Institute News.

Few details about the matter were released Friday, including the potential risks to sailors serving aboard the affected ships or whether those ships would no longer be available for service because of poor welds.

But in a joint statement, the Republican and Democratic chairmen of the House Armed Services Committee called the reports of the faulty welds “deeply troubling.”

“The Department of Defense must provide our committee with immediate answers and a plan for how it will protect U.S. Navy ships from tampering,” said the statement from committee chairman Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala., and ranking member Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., States. “Complete transparency with Congress is essential.”

The ranking member of the committee’s Seapower and Projection Forces subcommittee said in a statement that members “have already been in close contact with Navy leadership to determine the scope and severity of the weld quality problem.”

“Every time there is a welding failure on Navy ships and submarines, the safety of crews on board is compromised and the availability of these platforms is compromised,” said the subcommittee’s ranking member, Rep. Joe Courtney, D-Conn. “It is imperative that Navy leadership discloses its investigation in a timely manner in the coming weeks.”

The Navy said Friday that it was “aware of the issue and a thorough assessment is underway to determine the scope.”

“The safety of our sailors and our ships is of the utmost importance,” the maritime service said. “We are working closely with industry partners to address this situation and will provide additional information as it becomes available.”

The Newport News shipyard is owned by Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) and is one of two shipyards in the United States focused on the nuclear fleet.

The shipyard builds parts of several classes of submarines as well as Ford-class aircraft carriers.

HII did not immediately respond to a Military Times request for comment, but USNI News reported that the company reported the matter to the U.S. Department of Justice.