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Originally Posted by Porsche-O-Phile
There were a number of "classified" shuttle launches using AF crews back in the 1980s/1990s. As with the entire space program it was quasi-military and definitely was used to psychologically intimidate the opposition.
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This is true. Typical shuttle payload integration occurred in the horizontal orientation in the Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF). Classified military payloads were integrated vertically. The payloads were assembled in the Vertical Processing Facility (VPF) and then transported to the pad vertically (in the canister) and installed into the Orbiter there. The VPF had much tighter access restrictions than the OPF. That way, very few eyes could see what was going on and the payload wasn't even installed until the Orbiter was at the pad.
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The USSR was genuinely concerned about "star wars" anti-ICBM technology even as a research-level concept because even if only of limited effectiveness, it would have changed the dynamic of MAD pretty significantly.
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The lead structural analyst in my group used to work for the Soviet aerospace industry (even worked on the Buran shuttle). He has some good stories about Soviet-era fighters. I need to talk to him some more...