What was the best fighter plane and tank of WW II?

Answer 1

Russian T-34 tank

American North American P-51 Mustang

Answer 2

The best fighter plane of the war was the North American P-51D Mustang with six 50cal cannons and the capability to carry rockets or bombs under the wings. In fact there was a show on the History Channel or Discovery or one of them that looked at the best fighter plane for different eras from WWI to the present and they said that based on the technology available at the time the best fighter plane overall was the P-51D.

For tanks, I have read that the Russian T-34 was the best overall tank. The German tanks had the best guns, the Americans had the most tanks, but with a balance of armor, firepower, and speed the Russian T-34 was the best.

Answer 3

Have to disagree with all the Mustang lovers as whilst it was a great fighter particularly after it swapped the Alison for the Rolls Royce engine it was always a compromise design and relatively short lived in service before being superceded in almost every department.

For me it has to be the Spitfire because of its continuous improvement, adaptation, and performance from the late1930 through to the 1950's where it succesfully fought against jets in Korea. It had a carrier version (the Seafire), photo rec, interceptor and ground attack versions and stayed in service with some airforces into the 1970's.

Ex pilots universally sing its praises for its inituitive flying, and every time I see and hear one over my house its profile is simply stunning.

When asked by Herman Goerring what he needed to win the battle of Britain Adolph Galland the German fighter ace replied "a squadron of Spitfires".

A pevious answerer said that Spitfires were a romantic myth but that is simply not true. There were more Hurricanes in the Battle of Britain and that was also a fine aircraft, but Spits were used throughout the war and beyond.

The P51 mustang was actually designed by the U.S for the RAF at a time when it was running short of planes as a cheap U.S produced spitfire equivalent.

As far as tanks go, the German Panther was probably the best all round but for sheer impact the Russian T34 turned the tide of the war in the tank on tank battles on the Russian steppes.

From an allied perspective the most influential tank was the Sherman which again performed just about every and any role for both main allied western armies.

The Italians had useless tanks, and mediocre aircraft which were entirely in line with their skills as soldiers.

The japanese had the Navy Zero Sen fighter which was brilliant except it had non armoured fuel tanks which meant that it had a habit of blowing up as soon as hit in a dogfight. Early allied fighter deficiencies in the pacific and south east asia however meant that in the early years of the war they were rarely shot at!

Their tanks were crap, but there again tanks were not much use in the south east asian jungles.

Answer 4

Don't let these guys who say "panzer" fool you. Panzer is just a generic name. It's like saying "armored." German tanks came in many models. They were magnificent, but incredibly complicated machines. They needed a lot of maintenance. The Russian T-34 was very effective and incredibly simple to maintain.

The American P-51, with the Rolls Royce engine, was the best single engine fighter-bomber. The bad part is that it came along rather late in the war. The German ME-109 was a very good fighter almost from start to finish.

Answer 5

It's really close but i would take the king tiger over the T-34/85 or the M-26 Pershing. As for planes again it's close but I would take the F4U-1D over the P-51D because the P-51's radiator when hit will drain out and seize the engine in about 10-20minutes a corsair with it's radial engine will keep running even if the cylinder head is shot off.

Answer 6

Did you mean "What were the best fighting plane and best tank used during wwii?"? The U.S. fighters and bombers introduced near the end of the war were the best in many ways; however, the German jet fighter was the fastest. Each type of plane had advantages and disadvantages...even the Zero. The best tank.,..Again, the Germans had the tank with the better guns. In the final analysis and for various reasons, the best equipment was that of the winners. How is that for a "beat-around-the-bush" answer from someone who does not really know what he is talking about (like a politician trying to say what the questioner wants to hear)?

Answer 7

No simple answer, I believe it is really a question of progression. At the outbreak of the war the ME109 was advanced in its development cycle. The Spitfire was earlier in the cycle and continued to improve throughout the war, the Mustang was the latest arrival along with its country of origin! As for tanks, the Tiger was probably king until it got on soft ground, then the Russian tanks with their reduced weight to track width ratio won out.

Answer 8

Best fighter: American P-51 Mustang

Best tank: Tie between the Russian T-51 and the German Tiger

Answer 9

Unfortunately the Septics get the aircraft prize for the North American P-51 Mustang although it's reputation was much improved once it was equipped with a Rolls Royce Merlin engine. (There's a lot of romantic nonsense about the Spitfire but there were many more Aces flying Hurricanes.)

The Krauts should get credit for the Russia T-34/76 beating Panther Mk. V.

Answer 10

Planes: Messerschmidt ME 109s
Tanks: Panzers