All submarines of the Rubis class have been based at Toulon and are part of the Escadrille de sous-marins nucléaires d'attaque.

In the late 1980s, the Rubis class was proposed to Canada in the context of their plan to acquire nuclear-powered submarines.

The small hull design was capable due the development of a compact, integrated nuclear reactor-exchanger with turbo-electric drives.

[2] Even then, the project was only considered feasible if equipped with weapons and sensors already in service, with the fire-control, torpedo-launching and submarine-detection systems also found in the Agosta class.

[2] The submarines are powered by a CAS-48 pressurised water nuclear reactor creating 48 megawatts utilising 7% low-enriched uranium,[4] driving two 3,950-kilowatt turbo-alternator sets.

In case of a reactor failure, the Rubises have an emergency electric motor powered by batteries or a SEMT-Pielstick 16PA4 diesel generator set with an output of 480 kW (640 hp; 650 PS).

On battery power, the vessel has a range of 50 nautical miles (93 km; 58 mi) and endurance for 15 hours.

The hull form was reshaped and lengthened to 73.6 m (241 ft 6 in) while the superstructure and external bow were made of glass-reinforced plastic.

With the upgrades tested and proven, the original four boats were rebuilt to the same standards between 1989 and 1995 and were nearly identical to the final two ships of the class.

Eventually construction of the seventh hull was cancelled in June 1992, but not before the French Navy attempted to sell the vessel as a conventionally-powered submarine, but found no buyers.

[5] During the Péan inter-allied manoeuvres of 1998, Casabianca managed to "sink" the United States Navy aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and the Ticonderoga-class cruiser that was escorting her.

[13] In September 2000 Saphir experienced excessive radioactivity in the primary reactor loop forcing the submarine to be withdrawn from service for six months to undergo recoring.

[5] In 1987, the Canadian White Paper on Defence recommended the purchase of 10 to 12 Rubis or Trafalgar-class submarines under technology transfer, which would be known as the Canada class.

However, unlike the British Trafalgar class, the Rubis design did not require United States permission to transfer the nuclear propulsion technology, as the Americans were certain to invoke their veto of the sale to Canada.

The French brought back a revision to their design baptized Canadian AMETHYSTE, underlining the fact that the proposal was for the new standard carried by the fifth French submarine of the series, Améthyste, a standard the previous four boats would also soon be upgraded to in order to solve the issues plaguing the original design, notably the noisiness.