Were these missing components ever in the original design? If they were in the design and then prototyped, preliminary testing of the R&D units should have revealed a superior tuner (as expected) or a variance with expectations.
If they were tested, surely something would have been done to correct the problem. An absence of testing as the first articles and production units became available could delay awareness, however, wouldn't that be improbable?
Complex "state-of-the-art" and especially "first-of-a-kind" systems can fail, even when processes are carefully followed. My experience on a team building satellites and ground stations includes some examples that we had to thoroughly examine to understand "how" and "why".
My gut feeling is the process was flawed. Some extraordinary circumstances must have interfered with typical careful monitoring of this "baby" during R&D and early production.
Maybe someone here knows the real story.
