AT Shturm

 SHTURM SUPPORTED BY ATAKA

  The KBM Engineering Design Bureau (Kolomna) has developed a unique weapon system, named Shturm (Storm). The system, using the 9M114 missile, turned out to be a breakthrough in the field of antitank missile systems. 

Its design rests on two basic principles: (1) a missile common for all types of systems and (2) control systems designed on a common basis and using a maximum degree of unification of equipment. For the first time in the world, an antitank guided missile has broken the sound barrier and reached an effective range of 5,000 m. 

The unique design features implemented in the control equipment have made it possible to conduct fire without impairing the target hit probability under active enemy counteraction and solve the problem of protection against various natural and man-made radio and IR interferences, a key problem for such systems. 
 

Today, Shturm equips such combat helicopters as Mi-24V and Ka-29 (the Shturm-V helicopterborne system), and the 9P149 combat vehicles (the Shturm-S self-propelled system). 

Due to its long range of fire, short time of flight to the target and high noise immunity, the Shturm system possesses an incontestable advantage over such antitank systems as Konkurs, Fagot, TOU and HOT in terms of these characteristics in particular and overall performance as a whole. The Shturm system armed with the 9M114 missile is currently in service with the Russian army. During conduct of military exercises and in real action it has proved to be a highly effective and reliable weapon. Recently, a new missile, called Ataka, has been developed for use with the Shturm-S and Shturm-V systems. 

Today, the KBM Design Bureau offers to its customers the Shturm multi-mission missile system armed with the Ataka missile, capable of effectively engaging the following ground, water and air targets: 
- current and prospective tanks, including those equipped with the dynamic protection system; 
- other armored equipment; 
- concrete shelters, pill-boxes, dug-outs, field dirt and log bunkers; 
- low-flying low-speed fixed-wing aircraft and all types of helicopters; 
- launches and other surface targets; 
- personnel in shelters and in the open. 

The Shturm system can use, without modifications of its control equipment and launchers, the Ataka missiles which are more effective than the 9M114 missile and whose range of fire has been increased to 6,000 m with the supersonic speed of the missile retained. The Ataka missile can be armed with two types of warheads: tandem high-explosive antitank (HEAT) and blast-action. 
 

The Shturm system can be installed on any self-propelled carrier, helicopter or ship. For installing the system on a foreign-made platform, provision is made for the specific conditions of its combat employment and operation. 

The following are the advantages offered by the Shturm multi-mission system armed with the Ataka missile. 

Supersonic speed and short flying time to the target. This particularly means: 
- lower probability of enemy retaliation; 
- lower probability of the missile homing failure due to smoke and dust rising on the battlefield; 
- lower psychological strain on the operator. 

High rate of fire (2-3 rounds per minute), provides for: 
- engagement of a large number of targets within a short period of time; 
- minimization of the time during which the missile carrier remains at the firing position. 

High noise immunity ensures effective firing without decreasing the target hit probability under natural and man-made radio and IR interferences. 

The high accuracy of fire ensures actually a first-shot hit. 

The long effective range (up to 6,000 m) adds to the high survivability of the missile carrier. 

The availability of two types of warheads (powerful tandem HEAT and blast-action) makes it possible to engage: 
- current and prospective tanks, other armored and unarmored threats, and field structures; 
- low-flying fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft; 
- launches and other low-tonnage vessels, as well as manpower. 

Moreover, the system allows simultaneous combat employment of several (up to 10) missile carriers without their interference into each other's operation. 

The Mi-24 and Ka-29 helicopters can accommodate up to eight Ataka missiles and the 9P149 combat vehicle - 12 missiles. The Ataka missile is a basic guided weapon of the new Mi-28N combat helicopter which can carry up to 16 missiles on its hardpoints. A multitude of the weapons used by the carriers permit them to engage a large number of different targets in a single combat operation. 
The above-listed characteristics determine the high combat effectiveness of the Shturm system armed with the Ataka missile in modern warfare and allow a single system to perform various missions. This is confirmed by the actual combat experience of the Shturm-V system in various military conflicts. 

Another proof of the high combat effectiveness of the Shturm-V system has been furnished by the demonstration firings of the 9M114 (Shturm) and 9M120 (Ataka) missiles from the Mi-28A helicopter, which took place at the firing range in Vidsel (Sweden) at the end of 1995. The helicopter was piloted by a Swedish crew. The Shturm missile was launched from the hovering helicopter at a target located 900 m away, and the Ataka missile was launched from a level flight at a speed of 200 km/h at a target located 4,700 m away. Both missiles passed at a distance of 1 m from the aiming point. The Swedes praised the results and noted that the accuracy of fire at the platform's increasing speed and distance was amazing. 

The high performance characteristics and above-listed merits of the heliborne and self-propelled versions of the Shturm system make it possible to significantly broaden the spectrum of combat employment of the missiles by creating a stand-alone module on the basis of a self-propelled version and by utilizing the equipment of the shipborne version of the Shturm system. 

Stand-alone module.

The stand-alone module is essentially a frame which mounts the equipment of the Shturm-S system, operator's seat and the launcher with the aiming drives and reloading mechanism. Such a module can be arranged on any type of a self-propelled chassis having a suitable load-lifting capacity, say, on an armored personnel carrier or tank. It may also be expedient to place it inside a fixed structure. In this case, the combat stations with the module may be sited, for instance, along a sea coast for the latter's effective defense. 

Shipborne version.
 
The shipborne version of the Shturm system was intended for installation aboard the Project 14310 patrol boat developed by the Almaz Central Marine Design Bureau (St. Petersburg) and manufactured by the Vympel company (Rybinsk). The boat mounts a launcher based on the helicopterborne equipment with a stabilized sight and a facility for launching six missiles. 
 

The stabilized optical sight with a large magnification factor, located more than 8 m above the water surface, makes it possible to conduct effective reconnaissance and identify pin-point ground and surface targets at a distance of up to 6,000 m away and guide the Ataka missiles onto them. 

The missile launched from the boat can kill any surface target, neutralize shore-based fire emplacements and artillery batteries, and destroy concentrations of manpower and materiel due to the high power of its warhead and high hit probability. It should be pointed out that the missile's homing accuracy is not affected by the carrier boat evolutions and remains high at a sea state up to 4. 

A boat armed with guided missile weapons gains a 15 to 20-fold edge in an encounter with a boat armed with common guns. The effective range of fire is 3 to 4 times longer as compared to the boats carrying standard armament. This significantly enhances the boat's capacity to defend sea borders and perform patrol duties. 

The supersonic speed and short flying time of the missile to the target, the effective range extending to about 6,000 m, choice of several types of warheads, high rate of fire and possibility of simultaneous combat employment of several weapon carriers without their interference into one another's operation, as well as high state of provision with combat equipment make the Shturm system armed with the Ataka missile, the most up-to-date weapons system capable of effectively engaging various targets. 

To conclude, the Shturm multi-mission missile system can perform a wide range of combat missions on land, in the air and at sea, using the standard Ataka missile.