14. German infrared technology could have won the war had it been perfected earlier
After World War II came to an end American, British, and Soviet troops competed with each other to unearth, in some cases literally from mines and underground vaults, technological secrets developed during the war. Vast collections of files, drawings, and prototypes were shipped to the United States by American troops for study, most of them shipped to Wright Field for classification by the United States Army Air Force. American scientists and military planners, as well as industrialists, were astonished at the advances made by the Germans over the course of the war in many areas. One of them was the ability to see in the dark, an advantage noted by Allied airmen and troops on the ground near the end of the war.
German vehicles had demonstrated the ability to travel down roads at high speeds without lights. Tanks and other armored vehicles could accurately target their enemies in the dark, as could infantry snipers. The reason was the development of infrared technology which had been miniaturized to the point that it could be mounted on a sniper’s rifle. American planners were quick to adapt the German technology to the benefit of American troops. Similar devices were prepared and their user’s trained to use them in time for American’s to deploy them against the Japanese on Okinawa. Another German innovation was the development of electromagnetic tape upon which recordings could be erased and the tape re-used for other purposes, a breakthrough which changed the recording industry and the storage of information. The German’s developed the tape because of the shortage of petroleum from which vinyl for record discs was made.