>>> One wonders if they're really anxious to destroy
>>> SOMETHING, or if
>>> they're just playing with their toys...
>
>> BING!
>> And making a mess in low orbit too.  :-P
>
>Suggestions are that it has a special 'spy camera' whose
>secrets they don't want to fall into random hands.

The suggestion I have seen published in Space News is that it carries 
optical and radar cameras, and has the ability to correlate the two.

>Plus, nobody actually says this publicly but, what sort of
>message does it send to whoever when "just another warship"
>(albeit amongst the most capable in the world) can 'deorbit'
>a spy satellite.

I guess the message is being sent to a power that launched a ground based 
missile to do the same thing ...

So long as they do it when the satellite is low enough that everything will 
come down quick instead of staying in orbit.

I could see it being done at a point in the satellite orbit where they could 
guarantee it coming down in the ocean, rather than risking it come down in a 
populated area and doing major damage. This is irrespective of any military 
secrets concerns. 

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