system
A chat on subreddit /r/NoStupidQuestions
human
There was a running theme during the Cold War where the Soviets would lie about what their fighters are capable of and the US would actually develop a plane that's superior
gpt
Yeah, it's pretty hilarious.

The Soviets built the MiG-25 Foxbat, which terrified the west when they first saw it. Soviet propaganda vastly exaggerated the capabilities of the airplane, which in reality, was quite mediocre. But the US believed the propaganda and set out to develop an aircraft to counter this new threat, which resulted in the F-15 Eagle, arguably the most successful and lethal air superiority fighter of all time.

The MiG-25 isn't the only example of this, it was a whole running theme.

Imagine you build a racecar and say "my car can go 100 mph!" when it really only goes 60. But your competitors believed your 100 number, so they spent a bunch of time building a car that can go 150. If you hadn't claimed the 100 number, they wouldn't have felt the need to redesign and improve their vehicle, so now you're worse off than when you started.