On Sunday, July 27, 2025, a video appeared on social media showing footage recorded near the industrial complex of Russia’s UralVagonZavod Scientific and Production Corporation (NPK UVZ) in Nizhny Tagil. The video depicts a prototype of the heavy robotic combat support vehicle codenamed Shturm, along with its command vehicle.
Photo: Internet
The low-quality video is believed to have been recorded in June of this year. It shows the movement of an optionally crewed tank (referred to in Russian nomenclature as Тяжёлый штурмовой роботизированный комплекс, or Heavy Assault Robotic System) crossing from one section of the complex to another, followed by a heavy armored personnel carrier in a command post variant, intended to accompany the tank when operating in unmanned mode.
The first information regarding an alternative to the unmanned T-14 Armata variant surfaced in September 2018 during the Azerbaijan International Defence Exhibition (ADEX) in Baku. At the time, NPK UralVagonZavod CEO Aleksandr Potapov announced the beginning of design work and revealed the codename for the new vehicle family.
The vehicle family is based on a modernized T-72B3 chassis, which is why the command vehicle resembles the BMO-T heavy tracked armored personnel carrier, designed to operate within a maximum range of 3 km from the unmanned vehicles.
The first variant, described as an infantry support tank with a weight of approximately 50 tonnes, features an unmanned turret armed with a 125 mm smoothbore D-414 gun, shortened to 30 calibers with an increased elevation angle of +20 degrees, an autoloader, and a 22-round ammunition capacity, along with a coaxial 7.62 mm PKTM machine gun. (For comparison, the standard 2A46/D-81T gun family has a length of 48 calibers and an elevation angle of +14 degrees — editor’s note). The shorter barrel improves performance in urban environments but at the cost of reduced accuracy and effective range, thus lowering long-range effectiveness.
The vehicles are to be protected with 4S24 Kaktus ERA on the sides and Relikt ERA on the front hull. They will also be equipped with electronic warfare (EW) systems for drone disruption, as well as a dozer blade for engineering tasks and urban combat support.
A variant with a 152 mm howitzer with a short barrel is also reportedly planned. Notably, on July 14 of this year, Yuri Gagarin State Technical University of Saratov (SSTU) published patent No. 2 841 972 (On a Reconnaissance-Fire Armament System for a Tank) for the development of an assault tank armed with such a gun.
In the longer term, prototypes of additional unmanned combat vehicles are planned, including:
- a rocket launcher platform with thermobaric RPO-2 Shmel rockets and a PKTM machine gun, and a version with 220 mm thermobaric rockets (NURS), equivalents to the tracked TOS-1 Buratino, upgraded TOS-1A Solntsepyok, wheeled TOS-2 Tosochka, and the latest TOS-3 Drakon systems;
- a direct-fire support vehicle armed with two 30 mm 2A42 automatic cannons (with 1,000 rounds), a PKTM machine gun, and an RPO-2 Shmel launcher, functionally similar to the BMPT Terminator.
Interestingly, the first attempts to robotize the T-72 tank date back to the 1980s, but all advanced military programs were halted or abandoned after the collapse of the Soviet Union. However, over the past decade, Russia has renewed its active development of remote-control systems, including those utilizing artificial intelligence, to operate unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs).
Several platforms have been developed and tested, including the Uran-9, Nerechta, Platform-M, BAS-01G Soratnik, Marker, and Volk-2 (R-002-BG-57) combat robots, as well as engineering and EOD support robots such as MRK-27, its upgraded variant R-27-BT, and the Uran-6 and Uran-14.
During the ongoing war in Ukraine, Russia has also tested remote control systems for tanks, though so far only for driving, not for operating weapons. Notable examples include T-54/55 tank traps filled with explosives, first observed on the front line in June 2023, and a captured Ukrainian T-72AMT, whose remote operation was demonstrated in June 2024.
The new "Assualt Tank" concept was spotted out in the wild in Nizhny Tagil, June, 2025. pic.twitter.com/PJJZ3DgKyt
— T-90K (@T_90AK) July 26, 2025
It has a shorter 125mm and it's been armored, so it's not so easily damaged. pic.twitter.com/9zOXi8RuTZ
— T-90K (@T_90AK) July 26, 2025
A crapload of 4S24 ERA. pic.twitter.com/wOKGq5HF4l
— T-90K (@T_90AK) July 26, 2025
The vehicle behind is this, the intended command vehicle, that houses the operators, when it's remotely operated. pic.twitter.com/MRudvTN1V8
— T-90K (@T_90AK) July 26, 2025