BATH – The parent company of Bath Iron Works took exception to remarks this week by the chairman of a defense program review panel who expressed doubts about the Navy’s next-generation destroyer.

The panel did not recommend killing any programs, but its chairman suggested the DD-21, the so-called “stealth destroyer,” did not meet goals for transforming the U.S. military into a leaner, more lethal force.

General Dynamics, the parent company of Bath Iron Works, cautioned that the panel does not have the final say. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld will have the final say after the top-to-bottom review is completed.

“This is nothing more than a panel. It’s just another review,” said Kendell Pease, spokesman for General Dynamics in Falls Church, Va.

But the remarks fueled uncertainty surrounding the DD-21 program, especially after the Navy indefinitely delayed its decision on a final design.

James McCarthy, a retired Air Force general who led the panel, was quoted as saying there was no “substantial difference in operational capability” in the $30 billion DD-21 program compared to the current destroyer program.

“The bottom line is that we felt the continuation of what we’re building now is the right answer,” McCarthy told a briefing Tuesday.

Maine Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins believe continued development of the warship is vital to national security, and they were alarmed when word of McCarthy’s comments trickled back to Maine.

“We’re very concerned about it. It’s a problem,” said Felicia Knight, Collins’ spokeswoman. “Obviously, we’re doing everything we can to maintain the program, but we are concerned about its future.”

Dave Lackey, spokesman for Snowe, said McCarthy’s panel is just one of many sources of information on the matter. “You have to take it seriously. But remember, this is one of about two dozen advisory panels that are providing information to Defense Secretary Rumsfeld,” he said from Washington.

The transformation study led by McCarthy’s panel was charged with looking at ways to prepare the military for future conflicts. The panel focused on programs that would be a leap ahead in design compared to current technologies.

General Dynamics, along with Collins and Snowe, say the DD-21 fits the bill for leap-ahead technology with increased firepower, an all-electric propulsion system, smaller crew and reduced maintenance costs.

Even if the DD-21 ultimately fails to pass muster, Bath Iron Works will continue to build the current generation of Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, Pease said.

Loren Thompson, a defense analyst for the Lexington Institute, a think tank, said it’s likely that some of the technology from the DD-21 could be integrated into the design of the Arleigh Burke destroyers.