I overheard a coworker of mine asserting "there is no strategic value to the moon". And I think he's right. There's no practical reason to put weapons on the moon, they work a lot better on the earth and with the cost of putting them on the moon you could just build more weapons.
But at the other hand, strategic value may not mean just put weapons on moon. What if it is easier/cheaper to mine rare earth elements in Moon than earth then for Russian and China to dig rocks there and throw refined metal back to earth like meteors will be their strategic advantage.
and since working conditions will be extremely hazardous, maybe we would send convicts and otherwise "unwanted" citizens to the mines.
we would of course need to send some form of authority, like a warden, just to keep the convicts (loonies!) under control.
it would also be necessary to set them up with an advanced computer system to handle all colony operations, from telephone switching to ballistics calculations for the throws.
