Who had the better technology in World War 2 – the Allies or Germany? In a few significant areas the Nazis did have better technology, but analysis by category reveals a marked Allied superiority:

Small arms

This is a controversial area, but overall, the Allies had the advantage. The German MG-42 was the best machine gun, but the American M-1 Garand was the best rifle. The standard German rifle was the bolt-action Mauser 1898 which was a design dating back to the turn of the century. The British Lee-Enfield was a reliable workhorse.  Most of the Allied submachine guns stood above the German MP-40 which was also prone to stoppages. The American M-3 'Grease Gun' and the Thompson SMG were more reliable than the MP-40. The German assault rifle (MP-43/StG-44) was flimsy, easily damaged, jammed frequently, and was impossible to repair in the field. It could only be reliably used as a single shot rifle.

Tanks

Before 1942, German tanks were lightly armored and one for one inferior to many Allied tanks. But German tank tactics proved superior and allowed the Panzer Divisions to roll through both Eastern and Western Europe. After 1942 the Wehrmacht continued to maintain an edge in quality of main guns, ammunition, and optics. By the end of the war though, Soviet tanks were generally superior. The Soviet T-34 and KV-1 were overall superior to the German Panzer IV and Panther. The fearsome German Tiger Tanks that appeared in 1944 were in many ways’ designs plagiarized from Russian designs.

Unfortunately for the British and Americans on the Western Front,  German heavy tanks were superior to those used by the British and Americans (medium Shermans, Churchills, Valentines and Cromwells). None of the British or American tanks could match the armor or firepower of German heavy tanks, particularly the Tigers.  Rounds from the U.S. Army’s 57mm anti-tank gun had almost no effect on either the Germans’ Panther tanks or the slope-armored Tigers.  A single 67-ton Tiger II could hold up a dozen Sherman tanks, and often did. The Tiger II could easily knock out any Allied tank at considerable range, and its armor was so thick (1.58 inches to 7.09 inches) that few British or American weapons could destroy it. Fortunately for the Allies, production of the Tiger II was constantly disrupted by Anglo-American bombing raids and shortages of raw materials, so only 489 of them had entered service by the time the war ended.

It was not until the Allies introduced the “Firefly” and “Jumbo Sherman” – both modified Sherman Tank designs – that they had vehicles that could engage the Tigers one on one with success.

Self-propelled anti-tank guns.

There was close to parity between German and Allied vehicles in this category.  The U.S. Army's M-10, M-36 and M-18 were turreted and better able to reposition the gun quickly and as such had greater versatility. However, these vehicles did not have roofs and so  the crew was vulnerable to overhead bursts. The Americans also developed special high-performance shells for the 3-inch, 76mm and 90mm guns.

The German Sturmgeschütz and various Jadpanzer had thicker armor and better optics, but they had no turret and less ability to adjust fire. The cannon fixed into the front of the hull was their main weakness as they could not be repositioned as quickly as American vehicles.  

Assault engineering vehicles

The British Army developed “Hobart’s Funnies” for all sorts of purposes including clearing mines, filling anti-tank ditches, and cutting through hedgerows. Some of these proved to be very useful, and the Germans had nothing like them.  

Hand-held anti-tank weapons

At a range of less than less than 50 meters, the panzerfaust gave the German soldier amazing individual firepower against vehicles, buildings, bunkers, and other hard targets. The panzerfaust had better penetrating power than the American bazooka and more effective than the British PIAT. The panzerfaust was also cheap to build and easy to use. And produced in large numbers.

Transport and logistics.

Somewhat surprising given the fearsome reputation of the German Panzer Divisions, the  German army was mainly powered by horses.  The Allied  armies were fully motorized, made possible by the overwhelming industrial strength of America. German logistics were also heavily disrupted by Allied bombing and air attacks in 1944-45.

Battlefield medicine

A seriously wounded soldier from any army had his best chance of survival if evacuated by the Americans. The development of penicillin to treat wounds and bacterial diseases was a dramatic advance only available to Allied physicians. Morphine available to Allied battlefield medics eased the suffering of thousands and blood plasma saved thousands of Allied lives. In virtually all aspects Allied battlefield medicine was superior.

Airborne warfare

Allied paratroopers were much better equipped than German counterparts. They had superior parachutes, jump techniques, supply delivery methods, air transports and gliders, ground-to-air signaling equipment and portable radar sets (Pathfinders).

Naval operations

 The German surface navy was out-numbered and outclassed, and mostly for this reason the Germans relied on their U-Boat fleets to harass and disrupt Allied shipping. There is no doubt that the U-Boats did considerable damage, but in all other naval areas the Allies had the technological advantage: battleships, cruisers and destroyers; amphibious warfare; anti-submarine warfare; aircraft carriers, and use of shipboard aircraft.

Aircraft Engines

Rolls-Royce and Pratt & Whitney had the edge over Daimler-Benz, Junkers and BMW, especially after 1942. The Merlin, Griffon and turbo-supercharged R-2800 were superior at high altitudes. Mustangs with the Allison engines had less power, but they were fast and competitive with German fighters at lower altitudes. The Germans were hindered in aircraft engine design and construction by a shortage of high-temperature metals and as a result, engines were less dependable.  

Fighter Planes

The argument over which was the best fighter plane of World War 2 has been going on ever since the war. Rather than pick a “best” fighter, let’s just say that the top five fighters of the war were the Supermarine MK 24 Spitfire, the P-51D Mustang, Messerschmitt Bf 109K. Focke-Wulf FW 190 D-99 and the Messerschmitt Me 262. Honorable mentions go to the F4U-4 Corsair, P-47D Thunderbolt, Mitsubishi A6M Zero, Grumman F6F Hellcat and the Fiat G55 Centauro.

High-altitude fighters

 Most German fighters had inferior high-altitude performance, and purpose-built types (like the Ta 152H)  suffered from  supercharger problems. The late in the war introduced  Jumo 004 jet engines tended to flame-out above 30,000 feet, especially when flights of jets were trying to hold formation. Their true operational ceiling was lowered to that height, at least when flying in groups.

Long-range fighters

 The Germans were unable to mass produce anything comparable to the P-51 Mustang, the P-38 Lightning or , or the P-47 Thunderbolt.

High-altitude heavy bombers

Germany failed completely to develop an effective high-altitude bomber and the Heinkel 177 was hopeless to the task. The USAAF and RAF developed much better aircraft with better engines, particularly the B-17 Flying Fortress and the Lancaster.

Bombs

The atomic bomb is the wartime apex of bomb technology and although never used against Germany, its development makes the Allies hands-down winners in this category.  However, the Allies also had superior conventional bombs, with a  much larger selection of conventional bombs, including incendiary, “dam busters” and guided bombs. The Allies also had better delivery mechanisms in that they had the better selection and number of bombers.

Photo reconnaissance aircraft

The Allies had superior high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft. The Spitfire PR Mk XI  and Mosquitoes could climb up to 42,000 feet and they were usually untouchable by German interceptors. The USAAF F-5s (a variant of the P-38 Lightning) could climb even higher, up to 44,000 feet, but not reliably above 30,000 feet). The Germans relied for the most part on Heinkel HE 177, but this was a very mechanically unreliable aircraft. German aircraft could only see what the Allies allowed them to see (such as the phony invasion build-up at Dover in 1943/44. At the end of the war the Germans had a few Arado 234 jets which were very fast and almost impossible to intercept but their maximum altitude and performance were limited by the reliability of the jet engines. Their reconnaissance value was very low.

Night Fighters

Here there is likely a draw.  The Germans had very good  night fighting equipment to counteract heavy bombers, but the British Mosquito was a formidable night fighter. Because of engine  problems and other technical issues, the German aircraft, principally the  Fw 190 and Me 262 Nachtjäger , were not very successful at intercepting Allied night fighters (although they could cause havoc amongst Allied Bombers). The Mosquito, more reliable and better built,  was probably the superior aircraft.

Dive-bombing

A terror weapon at the start of the war, the screaming German Stuka with its vertical-bombing approach caused panic among those under attack. Eventually the Stuka was discontinued though as its weight when bomb-loaded reduced maneuverability and therefore survivability.  The USAAF developed a much better dive bomber in the A-36A which was a Mustang with dive brakes and a low-altitude supercharger. It could place a bomb accurately and was considerably faster than the Stuka.  .

Incendiaries

Firebombs were not used often by Germans but became very popular with Americans in 1944. Napalm was found useful for smothering and burning out foxholes, trenches, vehicle convoys and hard targets like tanks and bunkers.  Flame weapons terrorized enemy soldiers, with good reason, and the use of napalm bombs was credited with more eagerness to surrender by German soldiers.

Electronics

In Electronic warfare, the Allies were also far ahead of the Germans, with effective detection systems to determine the range, angle or velocity of objects:  RADAR ( RAdio Detection And Ranging), SONAR ( SOund NAvigation Ranging), IFF (Identification Friend of Foe) and ECM (Electronic CounterMeasures). Both sides developed radio transponder and radio navigation technology, The British had the British Oboe aerial blind bombing system, GEE-H, was a radio navigation system and Shoran (SHOrt RAnge Navigation) radar beacon system.   The Germans did come close to parity with their ground transmitters and beam systems like Knickebein, X-Gerät, Y-Gerät and Sonne The German systems suffered from the fact that they could be   easily jammed. The Germans had more success with their Egon aerial blind bombing system later in the war, which was essentially a copy of Oboe.

The Allies also developed terrain mapping radar bombing systems (APS-20 and H2S / H2X). The Germans did develop their own mapping radar, but too late to see service.
Beginning in 1943, the USAAF pioneered anti-radar tactics with the B-17s of the 16th Recon Squadron, based in Tunisia. These “'Ferrets” were stripped of all weapons and loaded with electronic gear and direction-finding antennae. They pinpointed and monitored radar sites for later airstrikes.

In May 1944, a few RAF Typhoons were fitted with the Abdullah, an early form of radar homing and warning receiver to locate radar sites. The set was tunable to all known German frequencies. The Typhoon followed the radar beam back to its source, marked the site with smoke, and called down flights of fighter-bombers to attack.

Fire control systems
The Allies had superior field artillery, naval artillery and anti-aircraft guns and fire control was much more precise. This was assisted by superior proximity fuses and aerial observation/tactical air support.

Communications

While the Germans initially had the advantage in field communications, for example, their early adoption of tank to tank radio communications gave the Panzer divisions a significant advantage in the early years of the war. However, by the end of the war the Allies had the edge at all levels of communications from the top down to the front lines.

Codebreaking and signals interception.

British cryptologists routinely read German message traffic. British “breaking” of the German Enigma coding machine effectively destroyed any German advantage in this area.