How Germany might answer foreign 9.2-inch cruisers

Would French and British 9.2- to 9.4-inch cruisers have changed the Admiral Hipper-class armament?

Possibly, but treaty limits and development capacity made an existing 8-inch gun more practical than creating a new intermediate weapon.

Germany had two broad responses to larger foreign cruiser guns. It might reach for an improved 11-inch weapon, especially outside treaty constraints. Remaining inside the Anglo-German Naval Agreement would instead require a new 9.2-inch program or continued use of the 8-inch gun already being developed. Limited money, industry, and design capacity make concurrent gun programs costly, so the threat does not automatically produce a matching caliber.