Shturm-S

Shturm-S

IT-1

Object 775

Shturm-S

IT-1

Object 775

USSR

VI Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
8.7	8.7	8.7

Class:

Tank destroyer

ATGM vehicle

Research:160 000

Purchase:450 000

Show in game

Description

The 9P149 Shturm-S is a rank VI Russian medium tank with a battle rating of 8.7 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.89 "Imperial Navy".

General info

Survivability and armour

Armour type:

• Rolled homogeneous armour

Armour	Front	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	14 mm (54°) Front Plate 7 mm (80°) Upper glacis 14+5 mm (38°) Lower glacis	7 mm (23°) Top 7 mm Bottom	15 mm Middle 7 mm Top/Bottom	7 mm
Turret	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Armour	Sides	Roof
Cupola	7 mm (30°)	7 mm

Notes:

• Suspension wheels are 10 mm thick while tracks are 15 mm thick.

Pretty much every enemy tank in the game will be able to destroy the Shturm-S including rank 1 anti-air. From the side, within 200 m the crew compartment can be penetrated by 7.62 mm. There are very few areas on this tank that can be hit by a cannon round and survive. Given that this vehicle only has 2 crew and is susceptible to hull break with paper-thin armour, generally, avoid everything. Put a solid piece of dirt between you and the enemy and only shoot if the kill is guaranteed. You are protected from .50 calibre from the front so if need be aim your front to an enemy who still has his heavy mg working. Artillery is especially lethal to this tank, so much so that the vehicle might as well be without armour.

Mobility

Mobility characteristic
Weight (tons)	Add-on Armor weight (tons)	Max speed (km/h)
11.8	N/A	68 (AB)
		62 (RB/SB)
Engine power (horsepower)
Mode	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	372	458
Realistic/Simulator	212	240
Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
Mode	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	31.53	38.81
Realistic/Simulator	17.97	20.34

The mobility is best described as nippy but not fast. Compared to Russian tanks of its BR it is faster but compared to other nations it is slower. The mobility hindrance in higher BRs is much more noticeable for the Shturm-S, being 50% slower than mbts such as the M1A1. The rear gear only goes up to 10 km/h meaning battle mode can be maintained in reverse. The Shturm-S lacks neutral steering meaning that turning around can take some time.

Armaments

Main armament

Vehicles use ATGM launchers by using a special handle at its rear. Once the missile is fired, the handle simply discards them and picks up a new one from inside of the tank. The handle is put down if the vehicle speeds up too much - if you need to drive around, use cruise control "combat," which goes forward at a speed of about 10 km/h.

The vehicle can carry up to 12 of missiles. It is best to choose next ATGM before firing the current one because once the handle starts picking the next launcher up, it can't change payload choice or put it back.

When rearming, only the main type of ATGM is rearmed (the one on top-left of "ammo distribution" UI), so choose carefully. Rearming is rather slow with about 35 seconds for one missile.

The list of available ATGM in order of acquirement:

HEAT - Default ATGM, which has about 550 mm penetration. Can deal with anything of BR 8.3-9.3 without much issue, but tanks with heavy NERA or ERA amount can resist it and suffer less than fatal damage.

Tandem HEAT - ATGM with a double payload. Extremely high post-penetration damage. Designed to annihilate ERA and other countermeasures and then destroy the tank in one hit. Each payload can penetrate about 800 mm of armour.

In-game, the tandem missile seems to work this way: If a missile hits something (for example, track or ERA), it explodes, destroying whatever was blocking the way, then the secondary payload is fired in a line in front of ATGM tip, ignoring the first obstacle. If a secondary projectile hits anything important, it tries to penetrate it and explodes. If it doesn't hit anything (the first payload already hit the tank carcass itself) it just returns back to impact point and explodes there instead.

HE - A guided missile with a HE payload. Can penetrate about 55 mm of armour. Almost useless against medium and heavy tanks, especially in up-tier, but hull breaks or destroys light tanks, SPAA and can fatally damage other ATGM carriers. Although it has more penetration the projectile has less shrapnel to its conventional shell counterpart.

Proximity HE - A guided missile specifically designed to destroy planes and helicopters. Has a 300 m proximity detonator, which helps with hitting aircraft despite not having radar or any other targeting devices. Certain support helicopters can survive the explosion. Whether Proximity HE can hull break light tanks or not is currently unknown.

Usage in battles

Describe the tactics of playing in the vehicle, the features of using vehicles in the team and advice on tactics. Refrain from creating a "guide" - do not impose a single point of view but instead give the reader food for thought. Describe the most dangerous enemies and give recommendations on fighting them. If necessary, note the specifics of the game in different modes (AB, RB, SB).

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Access to "Shturm” and "Ataka” ATGMs with a total of four different variants of missiles - HEAT, tandem HEAT, HE-frag, and proximity fuzed HE-frag
• Fast-flying, relatively easy to control missiles are great for longer ranges where regular tank shells and shot lose velocity and become hard to hit with
• Can still launch missiles while driving at about 10 km/h (cruise control)
• Very low profile - combined with good positioning, the vehicle can be invisible with only the launcher peeking over a hilltop or wall
• Swims! (capable of travelling across water, although relatively slowly and with poor control)

Cons:

• Poor defence - the armour stops absolutely nothing but 7.62 mm MGs and may protect against 12.7 mm from a further range
• Very vulnerable from the top, making it easy prey from the air - unless equipped with proximity HE ATGM (the last one available for unlock) for self-defence against air targets
• Cannot change missile type mid-reload, nor after one is reloaded
• Rearming is rather slow, and leaves you vulnerable
• Relatively limited arc of fire; while the launcher can rotate quite a bit, either way, the guidance module sits at the front of the vehicle, and after firing at a target located to the sides of the vehicle, the missile will require some distance before flying straight - self-defence for close-range combat is difficult

History

The MT-LB, also known as "Mnogotselevoy Tyagach Legky Bronirovanny" in Russian (which stands for "Multi-Purpose Towing Vehicle Light Armoured"), has been mass-produced since 1966. The vehicle was primarily used as an artillery tractor that acted as a means of transport of the gun crew and ammunition complements. However, as it happens with every well-designed platform, the carrier ultimately became a base for all kinds of armament sets. In the early 70s, the USSR began development of an anti-tank hypersonic missile system with a strike range of up to 5,000 metres for armoured targets. The system received the designation "Shturm" and was intended to be equipped on both air and ground units. In the end, it was the MT-LB that was chosen as the base for the former role. In 1979, the new ground combat vehicle was put into service under the designation 9P149 "Shturm-S".

- From Devblog

Media

Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.

See also

Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:

• reference to the series of the vehicles;
• links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.

External links

• [Devblog] 9P149 "Shturm-S": The Invisible Hunter