A caveat to German overengineering

Did German designers always overcomplicate military equipment?

No. Designs such as the Fw 190 could be rugged and practical, although German projects still showed a recurring tendency toward overengineering.

German design culture did not produce complicated and impractical machinery in every case. Kurt Tank's Fw 190 provides a strong example of a rugged, reliable design, and the discussion points viewers toward technical aviation work for comparison. The example qualifies rather than overturns the wider tendency toward complexity seen in some German naval projects. It also warns against turning a recurring design habit into an absolute rule for every German weapon or vehicle.