Much has been said about the vaunted German technical expertise when it came to panzer design. Were the interleavened road wheel designs and their complex drive trains and transmissions really necessary when compared to the reliable American Shermans and the rugged Soviet T-34's.
If they were not involved in an all-out war vs most of the free (and not so free) world, perhaps these designs would have had merit. In the context of the overwhelming Allied superiority in production, complexity should have been dropped in favor of design simplicity and reliability and the concentration of panzer production spread over a much smaller of amount of proven designs.
When one looks over the sheer number of AFV design that germany attempted to produce one can only shake their head in disbelief. The production capacity of the German factories making so many variations of AFV must have been so draining to the overall ability to produce quantity which was what they really needed.
The Allies were the ones who could afford the more complex designs as their supply structure was not being strategically bombed day and night as was the Germans.
Why did the Germans attempt such complexity in their design theory and practice? Surely reports back from the frontlines let them realize that the technical advantages they tried to build into their panzers and AFV's translated into understrength panzer divisions by the way of breakdown, overloaded part logistics/overworked mechanics.
Did the dictatorship affect german design evolution heavily? I know Hitler personally oversaw certain designs from start to finish. Were the mechanical engineers merely trying to impress their superiors when drawing up the various concepts for future AFV designs without thinking of actual combat reliability and logistics?
panzers forward!
panzerboy39
If they were not involved in an all-out war vs most of the free (and not so free) world, perhaps these designs would have had merit. In the context of the overwhelming Allied superiority in production, complexity should have been dropped in favor of design simplicity and reliability and the concentration of panzer production spread over a much smaller of amount of proven designs.
When one looks over the sheer number of AFV design that germany attempted to produce one can only shake their head in disbelief. The production capacity of the German factories making so many variations of AFV must have been so draining to the overall ability to produce quantity which was what they really needed.
The Allies were the ones who could afford the more complex designs as their supply structure was not being strategically bombed day and night as was the Germans.
Why did the Germans attempt such complexity in their design theory and practice? Surely reports back from the frontlines let them realize that the technical advantages they tried to build into their panzers and AFV's translated into understrength panzer divisions by the way of breakdown, overloaded part logistics/overworked mechanics.
Did the dictatorship affect german design evolution heavily? I know Hitler personally oversaw certain designs from start to finish. Were the mechanical engineers merely trying to impress their superiors when drawing up the various concepts for future AFV designs without thinking of actual combat reliability and logistics?
panzers forward!
panzerboy39
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