German tank manufacturers. All rushing for a spot for first prize in Hitler's great competition. (Kinda like pan-am and Boeing don't you think?)MAN, Porsche, Henschel, whatever, just want to be the one who claims the money. (Yeah, the same companies, like MAN makes busses and trucks and Porsche makes cars) And some of these companies were insane with what they were building like trains, bombers (Do 217 Henschel design *cough* like Siemens *cough*) Only because they had no other choice before and after the war. Before WW2, there wasn't much in the name of tanks until in the late 1930s Germany started purchasing armored vehicles And early tank designs like the pz1 and pz2. After the war, these companies weren't just slowed down by the fall of nazi Germany, but also the E series. Gathering all these companies who were death enemies on each other to work together? I don't think so. The car market was pretty big, so most corps just went with the flow and built luxury cars(that still aren't very reliable) Some genius came up with the idea that "why don't we stop all competition and make Germany a peaceful, safe place, to make tanks?" Of course, that got a huge welcoming from some people, and started getting all these corps to get together and start designing these tanks to replace ALL of existing Nazi tanks with "state of the art" designs. Well, that didn't go so well after the fall of Germany, and that is why Rheinmetall is pretty much the only one that continuously stayed in the military business until today.(i think) Essentially, every factory in Germany or other captured territory could make these "standardized" tank designs, and all crews would know how they worked, trained specifically for these tanks and only these tanks, and everybody will see the iconic shape or whatever. Better performance, better reliability, more efficient, what was not to like?
Well, then we come across the weakness. These things were barely better than their predecessors. Maybe a little patching here and there, a tiny adjustment to transmission and engine, plop a night vision or infrared IR technology or whatever and call it done. Maybe there were obsolete tanks completely redesigned for service, but the current designs were just given maybe an attachment or two, then considered good. And even the new designs of those obsolete were inferior to those before. Just saying.
Next, we will look at those tanks planned to be part of this revolution, and review each of them in closer detail.
(I don't have time today)
Next, we will look at those tanks planned to be part of this revolution, and review each of them in closer detail.
(I don't have time today)