They realized it IOTL anyway, but developmentally they screwed up their He177 project badly, so that when it was finally read in late 1944-45 it was far too late.
Sure but due to the amount of projects in many directions, they might could focus more on less kind of developments (in aviation) in this part of the war, because there was no real didications on long range bombing at the top.
I assume that there will be many threads about what if the project “Ural bomber” would be continued before the war.
Hitler was constantly asking about the development of long range bombers, but was frustrated with the lack of progress, which was echoed by the majority of the Luftwaffe's top leadership:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinkel_He_177#Engine_difficulties
Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring, angered at the apparent slowness with which the He 177 was having its powerplant problems researched and solved late in August 1942, responded thus to one Oberst Edgar Petersen's report (the Kommandeur der Erprobungstellen) on the He 177's powerplant troubles, remarking on the unusual engine configuration, and the difficulty of maintenance access, of the DB 606"s:
Why has this silly engine suddenly turned up, which is so idiotically welded together? They told me then, there would be two engines connected behind each other, and suddenly there appears this misbegotten monster of welded-together engines one cannot get at!
— Hermann Göring[22]
Nearly four years after Herr Heinkel had unsuccessfully requested two of the prototype He 177 V-series airframes to be built with four individual powerplants, the RLM's requirement for the He 177 to perform diving attacks was finally rescinded in September 1942 by Goering himself,[33] and with that decision finally rendered, Heinkel's design work on the pair of "separately" four-engined versions of the He 177A, the A-8 and A-10, collectively renamed the He 177B in August 1943 were then able to progress, meant to be powered with four individual Daimler-Benz DB 603 engines on new longer-span wings, with each liquid-cooled DB 603 fitted with a Heinkel He 219-style annular radiator right behind the propeller for engine cooling.
By August 1943 much of the detail work for the He 177B series aircraft was well on its way to completion, and
Erhard Milch eagerly approved the creation[34] of three He 177B prototypes, designated He 177 V101 to V103, from his statement on August 10:
The He 177A-4 and A-5 will be produced as before. The He 177B-5 will be tackled with vigor. It will be built in series as soon as possible.
— Erhard Milch[34]
Ernst Udet was also critical of the coupled DB 606 powerplant choice for the He 177 from before the war's start, with
Göring adding his input from his own frustrations with the seemingly interminable engine problems delaying the introduction of the He 177A into service. Göring was reported as stating in August 1942:
I had told Udet from the start that I wanted this beast with four engines. This crate must have had four engines at some time! Nobody had told me anything about this hocus-pocus with welded-together engines.
— Hermann Göring[8]
The problem was Ernst Üdet, who tried to cancel the project and then converted it into a dive bomber. Supposedly Heinkel, who designed it as a level bomber, was not happy with the twin propellor design and tried to argue for four with four separate engines, but was denied by Üdet. Ultimately for this and many other failures, Üdet committed suicide and then Erhard Milch had to sort things out, which took years. Ultimately he did get the He177 and several other strategic bomber projects operational, but by then too much time had been lost and it was already in the last 8 months of the war.
No more development resources were needed other than time and to drop the coupled engine configuration.
