View source for P-500 Bazalt

{{short description|Late-Soviet supersonic anti-ship missile}}
{{Infobox weapon
|is_missile=yes
|name=P-500&nbsp;''Bazalt'' / P-1000&nbsp;''Vulkan''<br /><small>([[NATO reporting name]]: SS-N-12 'Sandbox')</small>
|image=Old military hardware at Museum of Vladivostok Fortress 19.jpg
|caption= P-500 Bazalt
|origin=[[Soviet Union]]
|type= [[Cruise missile]] <br /> [[Surface-to-surface missile]]<br />[[Submarine-launched cruise missile]]
|used_by=Soviet Union, Russia
|wars=
|designer=[[OKB-52]]/[[NPO Mashinostroyeniya]] [[Vladimir Chelomey|Chelomey]]
|design_date=1963-1974
|manufacturer=P.A. Strela
|unit_cost=
|propellant=
|production_date=1970–1987 (P-500)
1985–1992 (P-1000)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.testpilot.ru/orenburg/s_list.htm|title=Продукция ПО "Стрела"|access-date=8 October 2015}}</ref>
|service=Since 1975
|engine= [[turbojet]]
|engine_power=
|weight={{convert|4800|kg|lb|abbr=on|sigfig=3}}
|length=11.7 [[meter]]s
|height=
|diameter=0.88 meters
|wingspan=2.6 meters
|speed=[[Mach number|Mach]] 3+ (P-1000 Vulkan)
|vehicle_range={{convert|550|km|nmi|abbr=on|sigfig=2}} (P-500)
|ceiling=
|altitude=50–5,000 meters
|filling=[[High explosive]] or [[Nuclear weapon|nuclear]]
|filling_weight={{convert |1000|kg|lb|0|abbr=on}} (P-500)
|detonation=
|yield=350&nbsp;[[TNT equivalent#Kiloton and megaton|kt]]
|guidance=[[Semi-active radar homing]], terminal [[active radar homing]]
|launch_platform=[[Echo-class submarine#Echo II class|Echo II]] & [[Juliett-class submarine|Juliett-class]] submarines<br/>[[Kiev-class aircraft carrier]] & [[Slava-class cruiser]]
}}

The '''P-500 ''Bazalt''''' ({{langx|ru|П-500 «Базальт»}}; {{langx|en|[[basalt]]}}) is a [[turbojet]]-powered, supersonic [[cruise missile]] used by the [[Soviet Navy|Soviet]] and [[Russian Navy|Russian]] navies. Its [[GRAU]] designation is '''4K80'''<ref>{{in lang|ru}} [http://www.new-factoria.ru/missile/wobb/bazalt/bazalt.shtml P-500 ''Bazalt''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090227150807/http://www.new-factoria.ru/missile/wobb/bazalt/bazalt.shtml |date=27 February 2009 }}</ref> and its [[NATO reporting name]] is '''SS-N-12 ''Sandbox''''', its upgraded version being the '''P-1000 Vulkan''' AShM SLCM.

==History==

Developed by OKB-52 MAP (later [[NPO Mashinostroyeniya]]), it entered service to replace the [[SS-N-3 Shaddock|SS-N-3 ''Shaddock'']] (Russian designation: P-5 ''Pyatyorka''). The P-500 Bazalt was first deployed in 1975 on the {{ship|Soviet aircraft carrier|Kiev}}, and was later added to both the {{sclass2|Echo II|submarine|5}} and the {{sclass2|Juliett|submarine|2}}s, replacing their ''Pyatyorka''/''Shaddock'' missiles. A version of the P-500 Bazalt with improved guidance and engines is used on the {{sclass|Slava|cruiser|1}}s. The sixteen launch tubes flanking the [[superstructure]] are an unmistakable characteristic of this cruiser class.

==Description==

[[File:P-500 Bazalt in Vladivostok Fortress Museum (back view) 2.JPG|thumb|left|Rear view]]
[[File:Old military hardware at Museum of Vladivostok Fortress 27.jpg|thumb|left|Jet engine air [[inlet cone]]]]
The P-500 Bazalt has a 550&nbsp;km range and a payload of 1,000&nbsp;kg, which allows it to carry a 350&nbsp;kt nuclear or a 950&nbsp;kg semi-armor-piercing high-explosive warhead. The P-500 Bazalt uses [[active radar homing]] for terminal guidance, and can receive mid-course correction from the [[Tupolev Tu-95|Tupolev Tu-95RTs Bear D]], the [[Kamov Ka-25|Kamov Ka-25K Hormone B]] and the [[Kamov Ka-31]].

The missiles were intended to be used in salvos – a submarine could launch eight in rapid succession, maintaining control of each through a separate datalink. In flight the group could co-ordinate their actions. One would fly to a higher altitude and use its active radar to search for targets, forwarding this data to the other missiles which remained at low altitude.<ref name="vectorsite.net">{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20070314221145/http://www.vectorsite.net/twcruz_7.html Soviet-Russian Naval Cruise Missiles]}}</ref>

The missiles were programmed so that half of a salvo would head for a [[Aircraft carrier|carrier]] target, with the rest dividing between other ships. If the high-flying missile was shot down, another from the salvo would automatically pop up to take its place. All of the missiles would switch to active radar for the terminal phase of the attack.<ref name="vectorsite.net"/>

==P-1000 Vulkan==
[[File:P-1000-Vulkan sketch.svg|thumb|250px|The P-1000 Vulkan]]
An improved version of the P-500 was installed on three Echo II submarines towards the end of the Cold War.<ref name=Friedman97-246>{{cite book | title=The Naval Institute guide to world naval weapons systems, 1997-1998 | first=Norman | last=Friedman | publisher =Naval Institute Press | year=1997 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l-DzknmTgDUC&pg=PA246 | page=246| isbn=9781557502681 }}</ref> The P-1000 Vulkan (GRAU 3M70) presumably has the same firing range and maximum speed with the P-500 Bazalt (range 800&nbsp;km<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://tvzvezda.ru/news/forces/content/201601050731-ddon.htm|title=Никому в мире и не снилось: почему ракете "Вулкан" до сих пор нет равных на планете|date=5 January 2016}}</ref>). The missile weight was increased by 1–2 tons. The missile has a turbojet engine and a starting powder accelerator. High-altitude flight regimes are presumably the same as that of the P-500.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://pa-strela.com/index.php/en/products/military-goods/2013-09-16-07-38-07|title=Противокорабельная крылатая ракета "Вулкан"|author=Administrator|access-date=8 October 2015}}</ref>

The P-1000 was ordered on 15 May 1979<ref name=Friedman97-246 /> from [[NPO Mashinostroyeniya]] Chelomey.<ref name=Friedman97-246 /> It first flew in July 1982<ref name=Friedman97-246 /> and was accepted for service on 18 December 1987.<ref name=Friedman97-246 /> It was installed on three Echo II submarines of the Northern Fleet between 1987 and 1993. The conversion of two units of the Pacific Fleet, the K-10 and K-34, was abandoned due to lack of funds.<ref name=Friedman97-246 />

Of the submarines that did receive the P-1000, the K-1 was decommissioned after a reactor accident in 1989, the K-35 was stricken in 1993 and the K-22 in 1995.<ref name=Friedman97-246 /> The P-1000 has been installed on the ''Slava''-class cruiser [[Russian cruiser Varyag (1983)|''Varyag'']],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.china.org.cn/world/Off_the_Wire/2014-09/24/content_33593918.htm|title=Russian troops' combat readiness enhanced: defense minister|access-date=8 October 2015}}</ref> and some sources reported P-1000 missiles on her sister ship [[Russian cruiser Moskva|''Moskva'']].<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.georgiatoday.ge/article_details.php?id=9173 | title=US Navy's presence counters Russia's Black Sea fleet | newspaper=Georgia Today | issue=566 | date=17 June 2011 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120102161517/http://georgiatoday.ge/article_details.php?id=9173 | archive-date=2 January 2012 | df=dmy-all }}</ref>
{{clear}}

<gallery class="center" mode="nolines" widths="250" noborder="no" caption="Ships armed with the P-500 missile">
File:SS-N-12 missile launch tubes on the Kiev (1976).JPEG|Eight SS-N-12 launchers on the bow of the [[Aircraft cruiser|aircraft carrying cruiser]] ''[[Soviet aircraft carrier Kiev|Kiev]]''
File:Submarine Echo II class.jpg|Fourteen [[Echo-class submarine|Echo II-class submarines]] were upgraded to carry the P-500, and three of those went on to receive the P-1000 Vulkan. The distinctive notches on the Echo's hulls redirect the exhaust of the P-500 during launch. 
File:US Navy 100625-G-7265M-396 Russian Sailors man the rails as Russian navy missile-cruiser Varyag departs San Francisco Bay.jpg|Eight pairs of P-500 canisters are a distinctive feature of [[Slava-class cruiser|Slava class cruisers]]; those on the ''[[Russian cruiser Varyag (1983)|Varyag]]'' (pictured) have been upgraded to the P-1000 Vulkan.
</gallery>

==Operators==
'''Current'''
;{{RUS}}
*[[Russian Navy]]

'''Former'''
;{{USSR}}
*[[Soviet Navy]]

==See also==
*[[P-700 Granit]]
*[[SS-N-3_Shaddock|P-5/P-35]]
*[[Operation Ivy Bells]]

==References==
<references />

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
*[http://www.ausairpower.net/TE-Sov-ASuW.html MARITIME STRIKE The Soviet Perspective]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20151003015443/http://www.cruiser-moskva.info/arms/p1000.htm Russian/Sovjet P-500 Bazalt Page (with photos)]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070208050141/http://www.dtig.org/docs.asp Russian/Sovjet Sea-based Anti-Ship Missiles]

{{Russian and Soviet missiles|SSM}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2017}}

[[Category:Cruise missiles]]
[[Category:Anti-ship cruise missiles of the Soviet Union|P-500]]
[[Category:Nuclear cruise missiles of the Soviet Union|P-500]]
[[Category:Cruise missiles of the Cold War]]
[[Category:Nuclear missiles of the Cold War]]
[[Category:Surface-to-surface missiles of the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:NPO Mashinostroyeniya products]]
[[Category:Military equipment introduced in the 1970s]]