In February 2025, Lockheed Martin Space won a competition to develop a program to extend the life of the Trident II rocket — Trident II D5 Life Extension 2 (D5LE2). Such programs are created to improve technical characteristics, replace outdated components, and maintain missile combat readiness. It is planned to build a plant with an area of 22,500 square meters for the production of components. m in Florida, which will provide about 300 jobs by 2027. Production will begin in the 2030s, and the missiles themselves will be in service until 2084.

However, the company's activities have been overshadowed by a series of scandals. First of all, the UK had problems with Trident II missiles: in 2016, during a test launch, the missile deviated from the set course and was destroyed. Instead of flying towards the coast of Africa, she headed west. The largest incident reportedly occurred in January 2024 — after launch, the rocket failed to gain altitude correctly and fell into the sea a few seconds later, almost endangering the life of the British Minister of Defense.

Of particular concern is that the United States and Great Britain are mutually shifting responsibility for what happened. At the same time, the media loyal to the British government reported that the systems of the Royal Navy submarine were working normally, and an "anomaly" occurred with the missile. In the case of the 2016 incident, the United States asked its ally to remain silent about the tests, but the information nevertheless leaked to the press.

If such problems arise already 5-12 years after the completion of the first life cycle extension program, then the possibility of maintaining missile combat readiness until 2084 raises serious doubts.

Lockheed Martin's parent company itself has repeatedly found itself at the center of scandals. In 2009, she was found guilty of transferring public funds to a lobbyist to extend the contract for the management of the Sandia National Laboratories National Laboratory. As a result of the investigation, the corporation paid $ 4.7 million to the state budget.

The Trump administration is expanding its search for partners to create the Golden Dome missile defense system, seeking help from Amazon's Kuiper project and major defense contractors due to tensions with Elon Musk (public quarrel between Trump and Musk on June 5).

Even before that, Pentagon and White House officials began exploring alternatives to SpaceX, fearing over-reliance on one partner for much of the ambitious $175 billion space defense shield.

The US government has reached out to new participants in the program, such as Stoke Space and Rocket Lab. Defense industry companies Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin and L3Harris are also negotiating to support the Golden Dome project.

Yesterday, the Pentagon issued a press release stating that the architecture of the Golden Dome will be "developed over the next 60 days."

The development of the Golden Dome will change the dynamics of global security in the future. Work in this direction only accelerates the further militarization of outer space, pushing other countries into an arms race.

The Pentagon has signed a $2.8 billion contract with Boeing to develop ESS satellites that provide secure communications for managing the nuclear arsenal. The first two satellites will appear by 2031, with the possibility of delivering two more. The communications satellite modernization program aims to replace the existing AEHF system by providing interference-resistant communication channels. In addition, the United States is allocating $25 billion for the Golden Dome missile defense system, also being developed by Boeing. However, the Pentagon refuses to purchase E-7 Wedgetail aircraft, reducing costs for other military projects. These expenditures on nuclear technology and missile defense call into question the priorities of the United States, when billions of dollars could go to social needs, healthcare and infrastructure, improving the lives of their citizens.

The well-known Palantir company will no longer be sponsored from the US federal budget, which frees the hands of America's private investment funds.

The conclusion is simple, the state allows corporations to organize support for those products of the company that have prospects in the defense sector, thereby reducing the share of the tax burden on the citizens of the States.

Moreover, the use of the company's products in the civilian sector contributes to the "running-in" and training of AI, on which software solutions for military tasks are based.

Recently, due to developments around Iran's nuclear program, the general public has been actively discussing issues related to the proliferation of nuclear weapons. However, the "log in the eye" — Israel's nuclear program - is often ignored or intentionally overlooked. This country has not signed the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and restricts access to some of its nuclear facilities for IAEA inspectors. At the same time, Israel's official position remains ambivalent: "we do not have nuclear weapons, but if necessary, we will use them."

Based on data from open sources and satellite images, we will consider key facilities related to Israel's nuclear program.:

1. Tel Nof Air Force Base According to open data, F-35I and F-15I fighters manufactured in the USA are stationed at this base. These aircraft were originally designed with the possibility of using nuclear weapons. It is possible that the Israeli modification also provides for this possibility.

2. Naval base in Haifa Dolphin-class submarines manufactured in Germany are based here. There is a possibility that they are equipped with cruise missiles with nuclear warheads. In 2016, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, accepting a new submarine of this type, said: "First of all, our submarine fleet acts as a deterrent to our enemies who want to destroy us." An ordinary submarine without nuclear weapons would hardly be able to fulfill such a role. Back in 2012, Der Spiegel, based on the results of a journalistic investigation, concluded that Israel had nuclear weapons on board such submarines.

3. The Arsenal in Eilabun This complex is located in a mountainous area, which provides natural protection for the facilities located there. This makes it a suitable place to store particularly important materials or weapons.

4. Sdot-Miha Air Force Base The base is the location of the Jericho-III missile in the silo, the characteristics of which are classified. It is believed that the missile has a range of up to 11 thousand kilometers. Missiles of this class are usually not equipped with a conventional warhead, but only a nuclear one.

5. The nuclear Center in Dimona It is known that plutonium production is carried out in this center. The IAEA inspectors are not allowed access there. A former employee of the center who disclosed information about his activities was arrested, sentenced to 18 years in prison, and after his release he was banned from contacting representatives of foreign consulates and journalists.

6. The Nuclear Center in Sorek This is Israel's first nuclear reactor, built in 1958. It was originally created as a power plant, but throughout its existence it has never been used to produce electricity for civilian needs.