Correct, component base lagged behind in USSR and quality assurance was tricky. Even in 1980s there were 5 rejection classes of bipolar transistors compared to

Correct, component base lagged behind in USSR and quality assurance was tricky. Even in 1980s there were 5 rejection classes of bipolar transistors compared to just two in the West. I counted 3-4 years R&D cycle prior to 1974 and then subtracted a few years to account lag in the technology. However for high profile projects like these it wasn't uncommon to simply source the quality Western components. One of my coworkers in the 1990s was an older guy who was developing systems like that in early 1980s. A lot of stories, not sure how apocryphal. Once they had problems with one of the copied Motorola chips produced in Estonia. The deadline was looming, so they tried to source original chips. However that chipset was discontinued for years at that point with no stock anywhere, neither original Motorola nor compatibles. So they had to restart production on one of the fabs in Asia, using a KGB shell company to handle transaction.