Its GRAU designation is 4K80[2] and its NATO reporting name is SS-N-12 Sandbox, its upgraded version being the P-1000 Vulkan AShM SLCM.

Developed by OKB-52 MAP (later NPO Mashinostroyeniya), it entered service to replace the SS-N-3 Shaddock (Russian designation: P-5 Pyatyorka).

The P-500 Bazalt was first deployed in 1975 on the Soviet aircraft carrier Kiev, and was later added to both the Echo II and the Juliett-class submarines, replacing their Pyatyorka/Shaddock missiles.

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.

[4] The P-1000 has been installed on the Slava-class cruiser Varyag,[7] and some sources reported P-1000 missiles on her sister ship Moskva.