MOSCOW, September 22. /TASS/. More than 650 tests were made to ensure reliability and safety ahead of the first launch of the intercontinental ballistic missile Sarmat, the CEO of the Makeyev Design Bureau (an affiliate of Roscosmos), Vladimir Degtyar, told TASS.

"In order to ensure reliability and safety, as well as the normal functioning of the components and systems, more than 650 tests were carried out in preparation for the first launch," Degtyar said.

More than 20 mock-ups and 500 experimental units were developed and manufactured for testing systems, checking the proper connection and polarity of electrical circuits and electromagnetic compatibility.

"The tests were carried out at the design bureau’s experimental base, unique in terms of its capabilities, which make it possible to test rocket and space-rocket systems in conditions simulating various situations that may occur in flight," he added.

Degtyar said that in developing the Sarmat, computational and analytical design methods and simulation modeling were widely employed. Supercomputers determined the aerodynamic characteristics of individual elements. Their accuracy was confirmed during a test launch on 20 April.

The Sarmat ICBM was developed at the JSC Makeyev Design Bureau and manufactured at the Krasmash plant (both are affiliates of Roscosmos). According to experts, the RS-28 Sarmat ICBM is capable of delivering a MIRV of up to 10 tonnes to any point on the globe.

Its first launch was from the Plesetsk cosmodrome in the Arkhangelsk region on April 20. The test was successful. The design characteristics were confirmed at all stages of the rocket's flight path.