Posted on 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.