Defence Turkey: As the National Armament Director / Chief of Armament of Belarus how would you explain your job and official duties? How would you sum up your role?

Major General Sergei SIMONENKO: In general, the Deputy Minister of Defense for Armament, Chief of Armament of the Armed Forces is entrusted with a wide range of duties: participation in making decisions on the further development of the Armed Forces in terms of equipping them with modern weapons, military and special equipment, including organizing the formation of proposals from the Ministry of Defense for the State Armament Program and the State Defense Order; organization of supply of the Armed Forces with weapons, military and special equipment, missiles, ammunition and military-technical property; management of the technical support of the Armed Forces in the course of their daily activities, training for the intended purpose and in the event of repulsing aggression – in wartime; organization of the correct operation of weapons, military and special equipment, including bringing them to the established degree of combat readiness, maintaining the established degree of readiness for their intended use by monitoring their technical condition, carrying out maintenance and routine repairs, organizing their high-quality storage, transportation, training of personnel on the operation and repair of weapons, military and special equipment; organization of restoration of faulty weapons, military and special equipment, support of modernization and creation of new models; ensuring the safety of weapons, military and special equipment, missiles, ammunition, creating safe conditions for their containment; supervising the command-and-control bodies and military units of technical support subordinate to the service (organizing their operational and combat training, solving tasks to ensure the training of the Armed Forces).