La US Navy ha accedido a gastar 13,2 millones de dólares adicionales para el mantenimiento del USS Enterprise, por lo que se siguen disparando los costes de su reparación, llegando a los 655 millones de dólares, un 44,5% superior a lo presupuestado. El buque tiene 49 años y 2012 es la fecha prevista para su retirada. Se encuentra en dique seco para reparaciones antes sus dos últimos cruceros. Durante las reparaciones han surgidos multitud de imprevistos, lo que continuamente ha retrasado la vuelta al servicio.
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The "Big E" is becoming the U.S. Navy's "Big $." The Navy this week agreed to spend an additional $13.2 million for maintenance on the USS Enterprise, pushing the cost to repair the fleet's oldest aircraft carrier to nearly $655 million — 44.5 percent higher than the original estimate. It's the 11th time in 21 months the service has had to throw more money at the 49-year-old carrier to prepare it for two final deployments before a scheduled 2012 decommissioning. At Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Newport News shipyard since May 2008, the aging Enterprise is in its final dry-dock maintenance, originally scheduled to last 16 months and cost $453.3 million. The Navy said Wednesday the project should be completed in April, marking the third time the service has postponed the ship's delivery due to unforeseen problems. Northrop was scheduled to redeliver the ship to the Navy in September, but the delivery was delayed twice so Northrop could make additional repairs. In February, the Navy said Northrop was scheduled to wrap up the project in March. Because the ship is approaching 50 years old and it's the only carrier in its class, Northrop and the Navy said the contract growth was not unexpected. The original contract was based on an initial estimate that didn't include what shipyard engineers and waterfront workers could find deep within its hull. Those findings added up quickly — to the tune of at least $200 million — and combine to make the Big E's final two years in service a costly venture. Built in Newport News, the Enterprise was the world's first nuclear-powered carrier. Northrop has a contract with the Navy to provide all remaining maintenance for the ship.
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