Independent Working Group Report: Missile Defense, the Space Relationship, and the Twenty-First Century. »»
February 11, 2012
IWG Report 2009
Independent Working Group Report: Missile Defense, the Space Relationship, and the Twenty-First Century. »»
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SS-N-12
| Country: | Russian Federation |
|---|---|
| Alternate Name: | Sandbox, P-500, 4K80 Bazalt |
| Class: | S/SuLCM |
| Target: | Ship |
| Length: | 11.70 m |
| Diameter: | 0.88 m |
| Wingspan: | 2.60 m |
| Launch Weight: | 4800.00 kg |
| Payload: | 1,000 kg HE; 350 kT nuclear |
| Propulsion: | Turbojet w/ solid booster |
| Range: | 550.00 km |
| Guidance: | INS, datalink, active radar |
| Status: | Superceded |
| In Service: | 1975-1983 |
Details
The SS-N-12 “Sandbox” (P-500/4K80 “Bazalt”) is an intermediate-range, ship- and submarine-launched, turbojet-powered, single-warhead, surface-to-surface cruise missile developed and manufactured by Russia. It was a second-generation anti-ship weapon following the first-generation SS-N-3 “Shaddock” and “Sepal” systems. Development began in 1963, and its first test flight took place in 1969.
Similar in appearance to the SS-N-3, the SS-N-12 “Sandbox” is 11.7 m in length, has a body diameter of 0.88 m, and extended wingspan of 2.6 m, and a launch weight of 4,800 to 5,000 kg at launch. Midcourse guidance is provided by an inertial navigation system (INS) with command updates, with an active radar in the terminal phase. It is powered by a solid propellant boost motor located under the rear body and a turbojet engine that cruises at Mach 2.5 at high altitudes, and at Mach 0.8 at low altitudes. The missile carries a 350 kiloton nuclear or conventional high explosive warhead, and is believed to have an accuracy of 300 to 700 m circular error probability (CEP).
The SS-N-12 “Sandbox” entered service in 1975 and was deployed on the “Modified Kiev” class carrier Admiral Gorshkov, “Slava” class guided missile cruisers, “Echo 2” class submarines, and “Juliett” class submarines. An improved version entered service in 1983, but was replaced by the third-generation SS-N-19 “Shipwreck” cruise missile. In 1991 about 400 SS-N-12 missiles were believed to be in service. By 1995 this number had been decreased to around 150; in 2007 there were an estimated 50 missiles still in service.(1)
Footnotes
- Jane’s Strategic Weapons Systems, Issue 50, ed. Duncan Lennox, (Surrey: Jane’s Information Group, January 2009) 148-149.
Russia Fires Cruise Missiles in Major Atlantic Exercise Near French and Spanish Coastlines
A Russian Tu-160 bomber test fired a P-500 (SS-N-12) Bazalt cruise missile during the country’s first major air and naval exercises in the Atlantic Ocean in fifteen years. The test was conducted in the Bay of Biscay, off the coasts of NATO members France and Spain. The P-500 is a liquid-fueled supersonic cruise missile, with a range of 550 kilometers and a payload of 1,000 kilograms. The Russian Joint Naval Task Force, comprised of the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier other destroyers and submarine hunters displayed high interoperability with the aircraft and will continue to test various systems for several more days. Russia’s latest exercise comes before its Presidential election, and is seen as part of a series of actions, including reviving North Sea overflights, to revive Russia’s military power.
» More stories on: Testing - Foreign, Russia
» Cruise missile details: SS-N-12
