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In what would be a massive change in the way that the Nazi government runs its war effort, what if at some point let’s say just after the Battle of Britain and just before Operation Barbarossa the realisation sets in that this will not be a quick war, there is a general meeting of the heads of department in which they look at the resources available and in a moment of sobriety the decision is taken ‘We shall fight this war with the tools we have at hand’.

Design and development will still go ahead but it will not be the free for all that it turned into, it will be more controlled with the more shall we say outlandish ideas being shelved, they basically do the same as the Allies and concentrate on numbers of proven weapons alongside realistic weapons development.

Cooler minds point out the short comings of the more exotic and expensive weapons programmes such as rockets, jets, aircraft carriers, heavy tanks, various assault rifles etc....

The Kriegsmarine accepts that its surface fleet cannot go toe to toe with the RN and scraps plans for its aircraft carriers and big battleships realising that they could never get a good return on their investment deciding instead to concentrate on its numbers of submarines, cruisers & destroyers etc...

The Luftwaffe knowing it has excellent fighters in the FW 190 and Me 109 does not invest as many resources into the more ambitious jet fighter programmes.

The Heer slim lines its plans for assault rifles, heavy artillery, ultra heavy tanks etc.

Money and resources will be ploughed into proven weapons which will be upgraded to a logical conclusion before being replaced.

Development of newer weapons continues but it’s no longer companies throwing unlimited resources at pet projects they have to be sensible and decide to pursue the most viable options basically German war production becomes much more efficient by not chasing pipe dreams.

What would be the effect on the war and the post war world (I’m thinking the space programme and inter-continental missile programmes would take a bit of a hit)?
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