What would a battleship using the best Axis technologies look like?
Short answerIt could combine Italian, Japanese, and German strengths, but it would still have major integration and anti-aircraft trade-offs.
NotesThe proposed mixture favors an Italian hull and heavy guns, Japanese construction quality and fire control, and German radar. A satisfactory medium or dual-purpose gun is harder to find, with a Finnish Bofors weapon admitted as a technical inclusion. Each navy's strengths sit inside a different industrial and doctrinal system, so national technology cannot be reduced to one ranking. Individually attractive components still have to fit one hull, power supply, ammunition system, and anti-aircraft scheme.