I understand that this has probably been done before, but given my intense interest in the Second World War, I would just like to get some feedback:
If the Germans had won world war 2, let's say around 1943-44, by the early 1950's, how much would the weapons and equipment of the German Landser have changed?
Specifically:
What would the uniform be like; would there be a more widespread use of camouflage? Would the Heer have adopted the M44 stahlhelm (despite Hitler's insistence that it was to foreign), or would they have gravitated more towards something like the East German stahlhelm, i.e. the M45? Also, how would the Germans exploit infrared technology?
Would the Germans have developed their own versions of the American 'Handie-Talkie' and 'Walkie-Talkie' (which the Germans were very impressed with)? I also know that by the late 1940's OTL, German scientists had developed a transistor; could this have come into play?
Would the Germans try to replace the MG 42; either with something that was cheaper and had higher rate of fire like the MG 45, or with something more high quality, like the OTL Swiss MG 51?
How far would the German's have taken the development of assault rifles? I've heard from some discussions that the 7.92x33mm Kurz round was just a stop gap, and that the Germans were planning to replace it with a 6.5 or 6.8mm intermediate round when the war ended; could anyone shed some light on these planned rounds, and possible weapons that would have chambered them?
What direction would infantry anti-tank weapons have taken? would they have continued down the path of the Panzerschreck, or would they have developed a re-useable Panzerfaust weapon (i.e. the Panzerfaust 250)?
In terms of heavier firepower, how would the Germans make use of grenade launchers, mortars and recoilless weapons? Would we also see exploitation of ATGM's, like the wire guided X7 and the infrared guided Rochen?
Where would the Germans go in terms of grenades? would they stick with the stick grenade, or would they begin to gravitate more towards the eirhandgranate design?
I know this seems like a tall order, but any feedback would be greatly appreciated!
If the Germans had won world war 2, let's say around 1943-44, by the early 1950's, how much would the weapons and equipment of the German Landser have changed?
Specifically:
What would the uniform be like; would there be a more widespread use of camouflage? Would the Heer have adopted the M44 stahlhelm (despite Hitler's insistence that it was to foreign), or would they have gravitated more towards something like the East German stahlhelm, i.e. the M45? Also, how would the Germans exploit infrared technology?
Would the Germans have developed their own versions of the American 'Handie-Talkie' and 'Walkie-Talkie' (which the Germans were very impressed with)? I also know that by the late 1940's OTL, German scientists had developed a transistor; could this have come into play?
Would the Germans try to replace the MG 42; either with something that was cheaper and had higher rate of fire like the MG 45, or with something more high quality, like the OTL Swiss MG 51?
How far would the German's have taken the development of assault rifles? I've heard from some discussions that the 7.92x33mm Kurz round was just a stop gap, and that the Germans were planning to replace it with a 6.5 or 6.8mm intermediate round when the war ended; could anyone shed some light on these planned rounds, and possible weapons that would have chambered them?
What direction would infantry anti-tank weapons have taken? would they have continued down the path of the Panzerschreck, or would they have developed a re-useable Panzerfaust weapon (i.e. the Panzerfaust 250)?
In terms of heavier firepower, how would the Germans make use of grenade launchers, mortars and recoilless weapons? Would we also see exploitation of ATGM's, like the wire guided X7 and the infrared guided Rochen?
Where would the Germans go in terms of grenades? would they stick with the stick grenade, or would they begin to gravitate more towards the eirhandgranate design?
I know this seems like a tall order, but any feedback would be greatly appreciated!