In the 1990s, the Ministry of Communications of the Russian Federation commissioned Rubin to research the feasibility of an underwater vehicle to be used for cable laying and maintenance under packed ice in the Arctic and develop relevant technologies.

Studies of various options done, it was proposed to use  Projects 941, 667 BDR and 949 A missile submarine cruisers decommissioned from the RF Navy. The approach made possible the efficient use of the equipment available onboard with a payback implied.

For Rubin's engineers, the development of the submarine cable vessel was a new and challenging task. The specialists involved in the work did themselves justice in engineering skills and expertise. As a result the existing cable laying technology used for surface cable vessels was adapted to subsea cable laying. Among the work outputs, there were several invention certificates received  by Rubin's specialists.