The Shuttle was driven by USAF "military" needs that didn't matter. Gliding and maneuvering served zero mission purpose. It should've reduced horizontal delta v

The Shuttle was driven by USAF "military" needs that didn't matter. Gliding and maneuvering served zero mission purpose. It should've reduced horizontal delta v to zero like a Falcon engine and had an ablation shield. Like many military-involved projects, it was also far too expensive, complex, and fragile. These fundamentals made the Shuttle unnecessarily risky that proved out in its lifecycle.