Why doesn't it surprise me?
Economy with no demand pull.
At this point they are just making shit up.
I once saw a bunch of Redditors completely unironically claiming that it was against the law to know compass directions and maps in the Soviet Union because they didn't want people knowing which direction West was and defecting.
Soviet pilots didn't even have a gimbal. They didn't even have seats. Just slav squatting in the cockpit.