What new technology was used in World War 2?

• The Blitzkrieg tactical warfare (lighting war)

• Radar, and it's underwater cousin, sonar, had a significant impact in countless military battles. Radar was developed primarily by the British, and was instrumental in winning the Battle Of Britain.

• The Germans developed rocket propulsion that made the first ever long range missles possible. Nicknamed Doodlebugs by the British, these were launched from Germany and flew deep into England before detonating. Fortunately guidance systems were not yet developed so they randomly fell in areas that sometimes produced casualties and sometimes did not. After the war, the scientist responsible for Germany rocketry came to work in the U.S. for NASA and made VERY significant contributions to the US space program. He was Warner Von Braun. *NOTE* The Doodlebug, a.k.a. buzz bomb, was one of Hitler's last ( I like to call them) vengeance weapons. It was a 2,000 Lbs. bomb with a mere range of about 500 miles. They were "guided" by programming the simple 4-bit computer on board to cause the missile to dive after a certain number of rotations of the propeller on front. These were amazingly accurate (to the nearest 1 1/2 mile) considering they were firing blind. The first considered successful attack occurred against London on June, 13 1944. *NOTE* (NOT really long range)

• Jet engines. The Germans were the first to produce a jet fighter, but it came too late in the war to have any strategic impact.

• The Norden Bombsight. Developed by the U.S., it was instrumental in improving the accuracy of bombing in Germany.

• The Proximity Fuse. Developed by Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab in the U.S., it was used as an anti-personnel weapon in the Battle of the Bulge, and against Kamikazi bombers in the Pacific.

• The Atomic Bomb. Little Boy and Fat Man were probably the most significant new technology used in the war. The threat of nuclear weapons was unleashed on mankind as a result of this wartime development especially in the upcoming cold war.

• Computers and Code Breaking. The British used Collosus, the first electronic computer, to help break codes. Alan Turing, British mathematician and cryptanalyst, changed the course of the Second World War, and created the foundation for the modern computer. The breaking of the Enigma code by the British at Bletchly Park was instrumental in winning the war and was kept secret much longer than the other secret developments of the war. It also played a part in the U.S. victory at Midway in the Pacific, preventing the Japanese from achieving what would have been a devastating blow to the U.S. Navy in the Pacific.

• Aircraft carriers replaced battleships as the centerpiece of naval warfare doctrine. The Americans had lots of battleships in WWII, but used them mostly as floating anti-aircraft platforms. Some say the aircraft carrier was responsible for the defeat of the Japanese.

• The Germans developed a rubber coating (Albrecht - I am probably spelling it wrong) for their U-boats. It had multiple purposes, but its main purpose was to try and absorb radar waves so the U-boats would be more stealthy and less visible to Allied radar. The coating also, to a lesser extent, made the U-boats quieter when underwater so that Allied ships listening for underwater sounds were less likely to hear the sounds of their onboard machinery etc. It also didn't return as load of an echo from Allied sonar as did a plain metal hull. View in http://forumseo.org/index.php

• Amphibious Landing Vehicles, the landing craft developed in the lead up to D-Day.

• The biggest difference in weapons from WW1 as compared to WW2 was the use of tanks and aircraft.

• Nazi Germany invented the first assault rifle the Sturmgehwer or STG-44 Sturm= storm Gehwer=gun= storm gun. Sturm is my last name^^

• They also mass produced sub machine guns such as the MP40 or Thompson automatic.

• Plastics and synthetic rubber.

• Canned foods

• The Jeep.

• The Germans also used chemical warfare like Mustard Gas. (This was not new, as it was used in WW1)
• gas chambers

First answer by Tsfdgfrde. Last edit by Tsfdgfrde. Contributor trust: 0 [recommend contributor]. Question popularity: 268 [recommend question]