Foxbat Effect

The Foxbat Effect is when an autocratic country, wanting to show how threatening and virile they are, overhype the effectiveness of their weapons, prompting wealthier and more powerful liberal democracies to develop weapons designed to actually counter the hyped-up weapons, only to then find out that the perceived threat was a turd.

So named for the MiG-25 “Foxbat”, which prompted the development of the F-15.

The T-90M’s missile countermeasures not working after NATO spent millions on weapons than can counter them is a prime example of the Foxbat Effect.