The Germans did have some badass planes. The ***'s didn't put a lot of armor on their planes, likely to keep them light and fast and/or increase payload, but the Germans were like the U.S. in the sense that, they gave up a little speed, to have that armor around the fuel tank AND the pilot, instead of one or the other. The other thing is, after Hitler, and whom ever on the *** side got together, the goal was to meet somewhere in Russia, or China. Germany was thinking they could just plow through Russia, and Japan, already on mainland China, and gaining ground, would work west, and hook up, after they beat their specific enemy. Actually if Hitler had aircraft carriers, like Japan, we likely would have had to position some in the European theater, which would obviously reduce our navel force in the Pacific. It's because of German scientists, we have a space program, and likely how our country got started on jet propulsion. The ME262 was a killer, and had they got a few more of those, in the air sooner, it could have lengthened the war a bit.