DefenseTech reported, some time ago, on the old USSR’s Space Battle Station (or, communist Russia’s answer to Reagan’s star wars program). More pictures are in a forum at Militaryphotos.net.
Called Polyus, it was ridiculously huge — as with all things Russian. Sadly, (from a purely scientific perspective) DefenseTech reports “it couldn’t get itself into a working orbit, probably because of ‘a faulty inertial guidance sensor,’ according to the Encyclopedia Astronautica.”
Who can tell what its capabilities were, but it’s interesting that the Soviet space weapons system appeared closer to completion than the US’s system. Of course, the fact that the Soviets were not able to build a new one and complete the program after the loss of the first one sort of confirms what everybody was saying about the communist economy all along (well, through the 1990s, after it had already become abundantly clear). Of course, it’s possible that there are active Russian weapons in space now that we don’t know about, but that’s what movies are for.
Also see: Faith-Based Missle Defense, Apollo Archive, and the Warren Rocket.