Posted on April 22, 2020April 26, 2020 by Erik Chipchase The Renault FT was the brainchild of French Army Colonel Jean-Baptiste Estienne. The idea of fielding light-class tanks during the Great War was not in line with French authorities, the accepted doctrine being on use of the large and lumbering “landships” – roaming fortresses outfitted with cannon and machine gun. Regardless, the resulting Renault light tank design, the FT of 1917, produced a two-man system mounting a then-potent 37mm cannon or one 8mm machine gun. The FT displayed all the features that became the norm in tank design till this day.
