The Soviet Navy development program involved building large destroyers with ocean-going capabilities. Having decided to draw on foreign experience, the Soviet Union sent a delegation to the U.S. in 1939. A firm called Gibbs & Cox proposed a destroyer design that was based on the Mahan class, but the U.S. government forbade certain technology to be shared with the U.S.S.R. The firms proposal laid the foundation for Project 35, under which two vessels should have been laid down in 1941; however, the outbreak of war disrupted the construction process.