The SHTURM multi-purpose system with the 9M114 missile proves to be a highly effective and reliable weapon system being fielded with the Russian Army.

Without any alteration of basic equipment, the SHTURM system is capable of firing the ATAKA ( "Attack" ) missile which features enhanced lethality and guided flight range increased up to 6,000 m, as compared with the 9M114 missile.

The SHTURM system can be mounted on any self-propelled ground platform, rotary-wing aircraft, ship carrier, as well as employed as a self-contained stationary module.

In 1990, the then Soviet Union revealed that it had deployed a version of the MT-LB multipurpose armoured vehicle armed with the Kolomna 9K114 Shturm (NATO AT-6 'Spiral') anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) system under the name of the Shturm-C. The complete system designator (for example chassis) is the 9P149.

The missile is designated the 9M114 Kolon (Cocoon) in the West and is of the Semi-Automatic Command to Line Of Sight (SACLOS) ATGM first entered service as a helicopter-launched anti-tank weapon for the Mil Mi-24 'Hind'. It was subsequently fitted to other helicopters such as the Mil Mi-28 'Havoc' and the Kamov Ka-29 'Helix-B'.

As far as is known, this anti-tank system has not entered service outside the former Soviet Union, although it has been demonstrated in the Middle East.

The chassis for the MT-LB multipurpose tracked armoured vehicle on which the system is based was built at Kharkov in Ukraine. Production of this was completed some years ago. It should be noted that a number of contractors are now offering upgrades for the baseline MT-LB chassis.

Externally, the MT-LB with the chassis is virtually identical to the standard MT-LB, but has a large gunner's sight mounted at the front of the hull front on the right side and a single rail launcher mounted at the rear. This retracts under armour protection when not required and for reloading purposes.

This sight is called the Pyl (Dust) and according to the manufacturer, allows the gunner to acquire and track targets under limited vision conditions such as those encountered in the desert.

All the gunner has to do is to keep the day/night sight cross-hairs on the target until the missile impacts. Airborne targets with crossing/approach speeds of 60 m/s and altitudes from ground level up to 3,000 m can be engaged. Rate of fire of the system aboard the 9P149 is 3 to 4 rds/min with a total of 12 missile container/launchers carried. Time of flight of missile to maximum range of 5,000 m is quoted as 17.6 seconds.

Crossing targets travelling at a speed of up to 60 km/h can be engaged by the system as can head-on targets travelling at a speed of up to 80 km/h. The target engagement arc is 85° left and right with elevation arc from -5 to +15°.

In addition to the basic 9M114 missile with a single HEAT warhead, at least two other versions have been developed, the 9M114M1 with a tandem HEAT warhead to defeat targets fitted with explosive reactive armour (ERA) and the 9M114M2 which is believed to have a fuel air or thermobaric type warhead. The HEAT warhead equipped ATGW would typically be used to engage tanks. The fuel-air explosive warhead version would be used to engage other battlefield targets, such as bunkers.

Like the standard MT-LB, this version of the MT-LB is fully amphibious, being propelled in the water by its tracks. Before entering the water a trim vane is erected at the front of the chassis and bilge pumps activated. It has a two-man crew and a combat weight of 12.3 tonnes.