KhAB-500s were typically filled with yperite (R-5) or phosgene (R-10). It was  in diameter and about  long. Its loaded weight was about  including roughly  of chemical agent and a  impact-fused burst charge.
Upon detonation, the KhAB-500 R-10 would create a hemispherical cloud of gas with a radius of . In ideal weather conditions, the phosgene cloud could produce serious medical effects up to  downwind.
The KhAB-500 was carried by Soviet Union era aircraft.
The bomb was removed from service as a result of the Chemical Weapons Convention in the early 1990s.