Scharnhorst's development path involved more coherent thought than the later Bismarck class. Bismarck suffered from more competing inputs and pressure to incorporate too many new systems at once. The same problem appears in modern experience with the Zumwalt class and the Littoral Combat Ship. A design team must understand each new technology before it can reliably integrate that technology with every other system aboard. The German case offers a general procurement warning about cumulative novelty and integration risk.
Notable Point · 1:02:45-1:03:58
Why cramming in every new technology fails
Scharnhorst's evolutionary path is contrasted with modern programs that tried to integrate many unfamiliar technologies inside one hull.