The work on the design of future long-range active anti-aircraft and anti-submarine ship – as it was initially determined – was conducted by the Leningrad CKB-17 in close cooperation with OKB-938 led by N.I. Kamov. The author of the ship’s design, which was given the number 1123 and the code “Kondor”, was A.S. Sawiczew, and from 1967 – A.W. Marinich. The main task of the ship was to search and destroy American nuclear submarines carrying “Polaris” ballistic missiles in the Antarctic Ocean and Barents Sea.