The 2B9 is a semiautomatic breechloader that makes use of 4-round clips or is loaded with individual rounds.

Because of its wheeled carriage, the 2B9 resembles a light artillery piece more than a conventional mortar.

In the fighting in Afghanistan, Soviet units found the 2B9 to be a versatile and useful weapon.

The armor-piercing projectile, which weighs 3.1 kg (6.8 lb), has a 75 g (2.6 oz) warhead that can penetrate 100 mm (3.9 in) of armor.

[8] By 1988, the 2B9 was also deployed as a self-propelled weapon by mounting the gun-mortar in the rear of an MT-LB armored personnel carrier.