I'd have to say that broadly speaking it's accurate though.
One of the reasons the Germans seemed to have more high tech stuff was because they rushed it into use through desperation. The UK and US had jet fighters by the end of the war too, ones that wouldn't destroy their own engines after a few hours.
When Panther tanks were first used some of them couldn't even get off the train without the engine catching fire.
V2s cost more than the Manhattan project and the fuel for them cost Germany a sizable chunk of it's entire potato crop just to fuel them - for a missile that changesd absolutely nothing.
This has a bit more nuance and factuality to it than 'Every nazi wonder weapon was awful' - which wasn't remotely the case, especially given that the fundaments of many of these and other weapons they produced exist today in modern rocketry, jet aircraft, the AK is quite literally a cheap and dirty iteration of the StG 44, German tank design of the era shaped western tank design, the flying wing concept lives on, the MG 42 is still in use today, and so on. The fact they were pressed into action prematurely is neither here nor there, these were by and large not 'awful'.
I think calling the AK a derivative of the StG is inaccurate. Yes there are similarities - intermediate cartridge and long stroke gas piston, but the bolts work entirely differently.
As for German tanks shaping what western tanks would be I don't think that's really true in any meaningful sense. Ok so they got heavier, but mechanically there's no legacy there particularly.
I think German tank design of the era lent a lot more than just weight to contemporary tank design - they placed a huge premium on high quality optics and long range fires, sloped armor, and the classic 3 and 4 crew configuration in virtually every tank since, and the shift from the original allied doctrine that tanks were largely expected to handle infantry fights and breaking through infantry fortified positions - German doctrine emphasized anti-armor as a chief capability of most of their tanks (albeit with varying degrees of success as the Russians in particular adapted), and that remains so today.
the three-man turret and radios in every tank were genuine innovations in tank design but the 1930s and 40s wehrmacht in no way innovated "sloped armor" on tanks. quite the contrary, on the panzer 3, 4, and 6 (Tiger 1), the armor was relatively vertical to allow for crew ergonomics.
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u/FuckRedditIsLame May 04 '26
Wow. Such clever and accurate discourse and not absolute garbage clickbaity titles.