Guided medium-range tactical missile X-59 Ovod

Two-stage rocket X-59 is made according to the aerodynamic scheme "tailless" with an X-shaped wing and destabilizer of variable geometry (during transportation, folded) (see projections).

The missile is equipped with two RDTTs: a launch in the drop-off block and a two-nozzle march (the return to the side nozzles was caused by occupation of the tail part by the antenna block). After completing the work, the starting engine is fired off with the help of pyrotractors. The marching engine has a small specific impulse and provides a flight speed of about 285 m/s on the trajectory.  BC is a high-explosive high-explosive missile weighing 148 kg, which is used to hit sturdy small targets.

The missile is controlled by electromechanical steering drives powered by the onboard battery and converter. For low-altitude flight, the equipment includes a radio altimeter. The main structural materials are light alloys and high-strength stainless steel VNS-2 in the fuselage units, the wing is welded from light alloy AMG-6 with spars from ON-3. To ensure the thermal insulation of the cargo compartment and hardware compartments X-59 from the inside are glued with a layer of synthetic material, and gargots with fittings and power supply wiring to increase rigidity is filled with foam plastic, along with the installed in it harnesses and connectors.

In order to improve reliability, survivability and operating conditions, the missile is arranged in compartments. Each compartment contains the systems most functionally connected to each other.
This arrangement allows:

• apply a controlled directional antenna of the required diameter at the minimum fuselage middles of the missile,
• to replace combat units without undoing the waveguide path,
• to make optimum use of the cooling air coming from the carrier plane,
• provide easy access to the electrical components during operation .

To protect the optical fairing of the TV-Command Guidance equipment from mechanical damage and aerodynamic heating in the course of a joint flight, the missile has a protective cone, which with the system of its reset and destabilizer deployment is placed in front of the video fairing.

There are two ways to point the X-59 missile - autonomous and autonomous navigating.

 During autonomous pointing before launch, the target coordinates are recorded in the memory of the onboard missile control system.    Connection of a two-way line of television and radio command communication occurs after the launch of the rocket engine that opens the antenna of the rocket. After that, the image of space on the flight course is broadcast on board. The rocket goes to the target area, taking into account the terrain (from 15 to 1000 m), performs the flight (with the help of autopilot SNAU-59) until the target is detected on the screen of the video command device (VCU) in the cockpit of the navigator.  Having identified the target, the navigator on the screen of the VCU puts a moving crosshairs on the target and presses the button binding automatic tracking system "Tube". After that the missile is guided to the target by itself.

Autonomous navigational guidance is carried out in the presence of specific ground long landmarks on the flight path of the missile or in the presence of guidelines for correction in the target area. In this method, the missile is guided throughout the flight from the moment of separation from the carrier both by autopilot commands and by manual control from the handle of the crosshair mechanism (MUL) at the navigator. Circuit deviation of X-59 with this method of guidance is only 2 - 3 meters, but the missile can be used only in clear weather with good visibility of the target and the presence of visible landmarks that provide guidance. In the system tests, the best results were achieved by guidance using contrasting linear markers of a river, highway or railroad type that led to the target, otherwise the task was problematic.

For the X-59 missile on the carrier aircraft it is necessary to have a special hanging container, type APK-8. Hardware hanging container, equipped with antenna blocks of the front and rear hemisphere, provides the process of guidance and after turning the carrier on the reverse course, allowing the aircraft to withdraw from the attack after launch, not entering the anti-aircraft gun, and real-time radio command correction allowed you to confidently hit even low-contrast objects, "unsuitable" for conventional TGSN, to which those could not make a binding. The use of an overhead container makes it possible to use X-59 missile from various carriers, including foreign ones.

The advantages of the Tekon-1 telescopic guidance system (developed by MNIITI) are:

• the possibility of "remote" search and detection of the target by means of a television head at a considerable distance from the carrier (previously the process was carried out when the missiles were mounted on a suspension and was limited to a small distance from the target if possible to visually detect it);
• significantly increased accuracy of hitting - guidance by the pilot is possible practically before the target is hit;
• full control of the missile, including when the aircraft departs from the target.

For suspension and start-up of X-59 is a unified aviation catapult device AKU-58-1.

A thermal container is used for transportation and storage of the rocket.