Economy and infrastructure Besides construction of the vessels themselves, it would be necessary to create an advanced infrastructure for the submerged transarctic transport system. Operation necessitates trained crews and a well-developed repair and maintenance system. The latter lacks even for today's military submarines. The cost of reconstruction has been modified since the beginning of the project back in 1993. Now only minor adjustments of the vehicles are assumed, bringing the price of reconstrucion of a Typhoon class submarine down to approx.
Operational costs vary, depending both on the type of submarine and the route of shipment involved.
Following its participation in the Victor-III experimental trip in 1995, Gasprom promised to fund upgrades and repair works on the subs the Navy put on reserve. More or less regular underwater shipment operations would then be started as soon as six months later. By then however, the idea had been picked up by Naval design bureaus and repair yards and the Navy itself. Some of the subs in question have had this status for more than five years. More over, a great number of subs have been taken out of operation due to their age or in accordance with arms reduction agreements.