Quote:
Originally Posted by 1967 R50/2
I'm not sure who your are reading but the Me-232, Comet, and V2 had 0 effect on the outcome of the war. That's indisputable.
The A-bomb on the other hand ended it. Our computers broke their codes and our radar could detect a U-boat snorkel, effectively ending the war in the Atlantic. So who had the better tech?
M-262: No range. Could be shot down over it's own airfield as it had no fuel for extended dog fights.
Comet: It's fuel could melt the pilot. And often did.
ME109 and FW109 were clearly inferior to the Allied counterparts. The proof is in the pudding.
As for the tanks you mention, they are generally considered to be overweight and underpowered, (Tiger/TigerII) difficult to build, difficult to maintain, (all of them) and having no range (also all of them). Many people tend to be obsessed with stats: Bigger guns, heavier armor, but in the end these things only made them more unwieldly, inflexible and rare as they were often broken down or bogged down.
The Germans obsession with gigantism also extended to their Tank Killers, which was a rather dead format having limited offensive capability because they had no turret.
In fact there are no major tank battles that employed these giants where the Germans came out on top. (see Kursk, Bulge, etc.)
The Panzer Mach IV was a possibly the best Axis tank and proved it through-out the war, but especially in Africa.
The best tank of the war is widely (and wisely) considered to be the T-32. Easy to produce, easy to maintain, fast with good range, packing good punch and protection. Very well suited to true blitzkrieg warfare and exploiting breakthroughs.
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1. U do realized Hitler interfered with the development of the ME 262..he wanted a bomber. It could have been in service many months earlier and it would have effected the outcome of the air war. Again the development of the Comet and V2 came late in the war when the die was already cast. Also the deployment of the V2 was against civilian targets and not military another Hitler blunder...it seems he was his own worst enemy.
2. The Germans ceased development of the A Bomb n 1942...just about time the US was getting started. Computers were in a very rudimentary stage...The Brits had captured an enigma machine...and it was the work of the code breakers and not the computer that solve the mystery...Both sides employed radar...the Germans mostly used it for against the British strategic night bombing offensive Late in the war their night fighters were equipped with radar...Radar is a bit of a push as each side continually developed and refined their capabilities.
3. The ME 262 was vulnerable upon landing...however by the time it was dribbled into service the Germans had long lost air superiority and it was a matter of too little to late...read #1 comments
The ME 163 was just out of developmental stages by the end of the war..
4.The ME 109 saw service in the Spanish Civil War in 1936 and ended WW2 still in service (The ME109 was still in service in Spain till the 1960;s) ...So the ME 109 was well past its prime by 1943. However in its day it was the state of the art along with the Spitfire that came along a little later in the 1930's. The FW190 was put in service in 1941 and was becoming long of tooth by the end of 1943. The first Mustangs P-51's were introduced into service in the beginning of 1944...However the plane I would have chosen to fly would have been the JUG or P-47 simply indestructible. This argument of yours is specious on this point.
5. The Panther Mark VI is considered to be the best tank of WW2 it had speed armour and firepower. It did have a liability it was overly complicated, over engineered. The Panzer Mark V or Tiger I was slow and ponderous, but with that 88 gun ferocious and so heavily armoured it was almost impossible to knock out ...Wittman with his 6 Tigers wiped out a whole Brigade of British Sherman's in Normandy..some 50 tanks without a loss. The Tiger II was an even heavier behemoth...Read comment 6.
6. The German obsession with Gigantism was Hitlers own megalomania at work. By the end of the war the Germans had designed several monsterous tanks that were in effect moving pill boxes and they were designed by none other than Ferdinand Porsche. It was his bemoth Tank Buster the Ferdinand that was employed at Kursk that ran afoul of the Soviets. For 2 basic reasons it didn't have infantry support and didn't sport a machine gun to neutalize enemy infantry. The survivors of Kursk were later deployed at Anzio in Italy to great effect.
7. Yes the Mark IV was probably the best of the lot for the Germans it was built in the biggest quanity and with mods it was still formidable by wars end..a tribute to German 1930's tech.
8. I too would classify the Soviet T-34 as the single best tank of the war..simple to mfg, easy to maintain, hard hitting and crude...but it could be easily mass produced. During the fall of 1941 the rains came which turned the Russian roads into seas of mud...this in effect ground the German armoured offensive to a halt...why because the German tanks had NARROW Tracks..the Soviet tanks had wide tracks which allowed them to still move about in the mud. Subsequent German tanks if one notices had wider tracks so they to could move in muddy conditions.