Without pronouncing any judgement (as if there are any options here) just commenting on technical side, I wonder, given the age of the design, if the original components weren't available anymore, and somebody just substituted the stuff with whatever closest was available. That reminds about how at the end of the 1990ies some electronics components sent to the space station Mir to make repairs were "sourced" from a large flea market in St.Petersburg ("Avtovo" for who knows/remembers, had a large electronics and computer section).