Group : Anti-Ship Missiles
Status : Active
Also Known As : 3M70, P-1000
Origin : Russia
Initial Operational Capability (IOC) : 1987
Total Production : ?

The P-1000 Vulkan is an long-range anti-ship missile intended as the replacement for Bazalt missiles onboard Russian Navy's Project 1164 Atlant missile cruisers. The P-500 Bazalt cruise missiles were introduced in the early 1970s. The Vulkan features improved supersonic speed of Mach 2.8, an estimated range of 700 kilometers and may be equipped with a 350-kiloton nuclear warhead. The purpose of this dreadful missile system is to allow Soviet/Russian submarines and missile cruisers to engage aircraft carrier strike groups from safe ranges. The supersonic speed guarantees the neutralization of naval forces even protected by state-of-the-art air defense systems such as AEGIS or PAAMS.

The Vulkan is a follow-on development based on the Bazalt missile. It features a titanium armor replacing steel plates on the Bazalt decreasing the launch weight. Besides, the Vulkan is provided with a more powerful solid-propellant booster and a more efficient liquid-fuel turbojet which allows top speed and range increase. The guidance system combines midcourse autopilot, terminal radar seeker, digital computer and improved performance against electronic countermeasures (ECM) with the ability to select a target in the terminal phase of the flight. Its development program started in the late 1970s, firing test were carried out in the 1980s and the missile entered service in five Echo II-class submarines beginning in 1987. In the mid-1990s these boats were decommissioned and the missiles were installed aboard the Varyag missile cruiser.