If the NPCs cheat a little bit, I would not be surprised in the slightest.
MOST games have this, especially games with complex physics simulations and a huge variety of performance statistics. As in, there are thousands of different possible combinations of weapons, shields, boosters etc on each ship. It is incredibly difficult to make an AI that doesn't behave like an idiot with so many variables. In order to have an AI that can have all of these configurations, AND be a challenging opponent, AND follow every rule of the game that players must, Frontier would have to sink an enormous amount of resources into developing it.
The mech game series, Armored Core is notorious for cheaty AI opponents. It's most noticeable in the Arena. You start off fighting opponents who follow all the rules. About half way up the ladder, the opponents start getting some of the cheats to keep increasing the difficulty. Without it, the game would be too easy and boring. I'll forego further details, but it is a very useful tool for game developers. The hardest part is hiding that the NPCs are cheating at all.
