[jacquesm]

Judging by the time it was made it was at least intended to be used in a hostile environment. By 1983 the days of core memory were long gone so any application involving ferrite would have to be special to justify the additional cost over using semiconductor ram.

[MichaelMoser123]

I think it was supposed to withstand the electromagnetic pulse of a nuclear explosion - Special toys for the military in preparation of WW3.

"Soviet Cold War–era military aircraft often had avionics based on vacuum tubes due to limited solid-state capabilities and a belief that the vacuum-tube gear would survive better." says http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_electromagnetic_puls