Renault FT

Société des Automobiles Renault
Industry	Automotive, military vehicle manufacturing
Founded	February 25, 1899; 127 years ago in France
Founder	Louis Renault
Headquarters	Boulogne-Billancourt, France
Products	Renault FT tank, automobiles

The Renault FT (commonly referred to as the FT-17 or FT17) is a French light tank acclaimed for establishing the blueprint of modern tank design by incorporating a fully rotating turret that housed its weaponry. Although earlier prototypes and tanks featured turrets, none entered active service with such a configuration. Its arrangement—with the crew compartment positioned at the front, the engine located at the rear, and the main armament mounted in a rotating turret—became the model for subsequent tank developments. Some experts consider it the first truly modern tank worldwide.

France manufactured in excess of 3,000 units, predominantly during 1918. Following World War I, the FT was extensively exported and served as the foundation for derivative models such as the American M1917, Italy’s Fiat 3000, and the Soviet T-18. While it saw widespread use in numerous interwar conflicts around the world, by the onset of World War II, it was deemed obsolete.

Development

The Société des Automobiles Renault (Renault Automobile Company) was responsible for designing and producing the FT.

It is generally accepted that Louis Renault initiated work on the concept as early as December 1915 after meeting Colonel J. B. E. Estienne, who had envisioned a tracked armored vehicle based on the Holt caterpillar tractor chassis. Initially, Renault declined involvement due to full manufacturing capacity and unfamiliarity with tracked vehicle technology. Consequently, Estienne approached Schneider, which developed France’s initial operational tank, the Schneider CA.

A fortuitous encounter in July 1916 led Estienne to convince Renault to reconsider participation, resulting in Renault’s positive engagement with the project.

Louis Renault personally designed the tank and imposed a 7-ton weight restriction, skeptical that existing engines could adequately power heavier vehicles. The industrial designer Rodolphe Ernst-Metzmaier prepared detailed plans for production, while Charles-Edmond Serre oversaw mass manufacturing. The FT incorporated features such as automatically tensioned tracks to reduce derailment risk and a rounded rear to facilitate crossing trenches. Its engine was engineered to sustain power on steep inclines, with ventilation achieved via a radiator fan that drew air through the crew compartment.

Initially, Renault encountered opposition from Estienne and military officials who debated between prioritizing light tanks or super-heavy models like the Char 2C after British heavy tanks emerged in 1916. On 27 November 1916, Estienne advocated for mass production of a light tank based on Renault’s prototype. Following substantial government contracts awarded in April and June 1917, Renault expanded production while competing with Char 2C development until war’s conclusion.

Although persistent issues with radiator fan belts limited output to only 84 units in 1917, total deliveries reached 2,697 before the Armistice.

Naming

Contrary to popular belief, the abbreviation FT does not represent French phrases such as faible tonnage (low weight) or franchisseur de tranchées (trench crosser). Instead, it originated from Renault’s internal two-letter project code: "FT."

The vehicle was initially designated automitrailleuse à chenilles Renault modèle 1917, meaning an armored tracked vehicle; meanwhile, the term "char d'assaut" (assault tank) had already gained currency through Colonel Estienne’s advocacy. Renault referred to this model simply as "FT." It was originally intended to be armed with a machine gun and thus described as a char mitrailleur (machine-gun tank).

The label "FT 17" or "FT-17" was applied only after World War I—not during its design or operational deployment. This was confirmed by Estienne’s granddaughter and French tank historian Lieutenant-Colonel Paul Malmassari, who noted that during WWI the tank bore no such designation. Some confusion stemmed from the American licensed variant being named M1917.

When fitted with either cannon or machine guns, those equipped with cannons were referred to as char canon, whereas those with machine guns retained the name char mitrailleuse.

Claims suggesting certain tanks bore designations like FT 18 to signify production year, armament type, turret shape variations, engine power differences, or other modifications are not supported by Renault’s documentation. The decision to equip FTs with a 37mm gun occurred in April 1917 prior to production commencement. Multiple turret designs existed but all were compatible with the same FT chassis without distinct model numbers. All FTs utilized an identical 18 hp engine.

Renault’s April 1918 manual titled RENAULT CHAR D'ASSAUT 18 HP featured illustrations of the machine-gun variant. The official name changed only in the 1930s when upgrades included a 1931 Reibel machine gun and it was redesignated FT modifié 31 to distinguish it from newer Renault tanks entering French service.

France

Approximately fifty percent of all FTs were assembled at Renault's facility in Boulogne-Billancourt, near Paris, with the remaining units produced under subcontract. From the initial order of 3,530 vehicles, Renault was responsible for manufacturing 1,850 units (52%), Berliet produced 800 (23%), SOMUA—a subsidiary of Schneider & Cie—delivered 600 (17%), and Delaunay-Belleville completed 280 (8%). When the order increased to 7,820 units in 1918, the distribution of production among manufacturers stayed largely consistent. Louis Renault chose to forgo royalties from all French FT producers.

United States

When the United States entered the conflict in April 1917, its military lacked tanks and other heavy equipment. Given limitations within French manufacturing capabilities, the fastest remedy was to produce a modified FT domestically, designated as the M1917, with an initial target of 4,400 tanks and expected deliveries starting in April 1918. However, by June 1918, American factories had yet to produce any tanks, pushing delivery dates back to September. To support US forces, France loaned 144 FTs to equip two battalions. No M1917 tanks were deployed with the American Expeditionary Forces before hostilities ceased.

Turret

The original FT turret featured a circular cast steel construction similar to the prototype and was designed to mount a Hotchkiss 8mm machine gun. In April 1917, Estienne decided that some vehicles should be armed with a small cannon; the 37mm Puteaux gun was selected for this purpose. Efforts to create a cast steel turret compatible with this cannon were unsuccessful. The first 150 FTs produced were training versions constructed from non-hardened steel using the initial turret design.

Concurrently, Berliet developed a more straightforward polygonal riveted plate turret known as the "omnibus," which could be fitted with either the Hotchkiss machine gun or the Puteaux 37mm cannon equipped with a telescopic sight. This turret became standard on production models. In 1918, Forges et aciéries Paul Girod introduced a predominantly cast circular turret also referred to as "omnibus." Girod supplied this variant to all FT manufacturers, and by the war’s conclusion it had become more prevalent than Berliet’s design. The turret rotated on a circular ball-bearing race and could be manually turned by the gunner/commander or secured in place using a handbrake.

World War I

The Renault FT saw extensive deployment by French forces throughout 1918 and was also utilized by the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) on the Western Front during the final stages of World War I.

Its combat debut took place on 31 May 1918 east of the Forest of Retz, during the Third Battle of the Aisne. Thirty tanks disrupted a German offensive but ultimately retreated due to insufficient infantry support. Increasing numbers of FTs were fielded alongside older models such as the Schneider CA1 and Saint-Chamond. During the Hundred Days Offensive, lighter FTs were frequently transported using trucks and trailers instead of railways. Estienne’s tactic of overwhelming enemy defenses through mass deployment of light tanks eventually succeeded. By late 1917, Allied powers aimed to surpass Central Powers production by targeting a total of 12,260 FT tanks (7,820 in France and 4,440 in the US) by the end of 1919. The FT played a crucial role in the offensives of 1918 and earned the nickname "Victory Tank."

The British Army employed 24 FTs primarily for command and liaison purposes, generally removing their armament.

Italy received three FTs in June 1918; these did not see combat, and no additional shipments occurred before the war ended.

Interwar period

Following the First World War, the Renault FT was extensively exported to numerous countries, including Belgium, Brazil, Czechoslovakia, Estonia, Finland, Iran, Japan, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, and Yugoslavia. This tank became a cornerstone vehicle for many armored units around the world.

These tanks participated in various anti-Soviet engagements such as the Russian Civil War and the Polish-Soviet War. Estonia acquired nine units in 1920.

In 1919, French tanks stationed in Vladivostok were transferred to the Chinese Fengtian Army commanded by Zhang Zuolin, with an additional 14 Renaults purchased during 1924–25. These vehicles played a crucial role in border defense against Soviet forces and engaged warlord Wu Peifu in combat in 1926. Following Japan’s occupation of Manchuria, most of these tanks were handed over to the Manchukuo Imperial Army.

Renault FTs also saw action in colonial conflicts. They were used to suppress uprisings such as the revolt in Italian Libya in 1919 and during the Great Druze Revolt in Syria. In Brazil, these tanks contributed to quelling rebellions between 1924 and 1927 and supported forces loyal to Vargas during the Constitutionalist Revolution.

During the Rif War, after Spain’s defeat at the Battle of Annual, ten FTs equipped with Hotchkiss machine guns plus one char TSF were ordered and formed a company that was deployed starting in 1921. Despite early difficulties, they demonstrated effectiveness, leading to six additional units arriving in 1925. Spanish Renault FTs took part in history’s first amphibious landing at Alhucemas. The French Army committed two FT battalions to the conflict, one utilizing Kégresse tracked vehicles. After the war concluded, French tanks remained stationed in North Africa to assist in pacifying Morocco. In the Spanish Civil War, approximately half of Renault crews aligned with Republican forces; France supplied Republicans with 32 FTs, while estimates of Polish sales to Republicans range from 16 to 94 tanks.

World War II and after

Although largely outdated by World War II, Renault FT tanks were still employed by Poland, Finland, France, Romania, and the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. As of May 1940, the French Army retained seven frontline battalions each comprising 63 FTs, along with additional units amounting to a total of 504 tanks. Another 163 were stationed across colonial territories such as Morocco, Algeria, the French Levant, Madagascar, and Indochina. Some FTs were even embedded within concrete fortifications as part of the Maginot Line defensive system.

The continued presence of Renault FTs contributed to a false impression that France lacked modern armored vehicles; however, France actually fielded as many contemporary tanks as Germany. The main distinction was design-related—French tanks frequently featured one-man turrets and operated at slower speeds compared to German models like the Panzer III and Panzer IV. It was tactical and strategic failures rather than inferior equipment that diminished French armored effectiveness. When German forces encircled critical French units in 1940, approximately 390 FTs from training reserves supplemented around 184–192 active FTs deployed for internal security duties. The Wehrmacht captured an estimated 1,704 Renault FTs during their campaign. Of these captured vehicles, around 100 were used for airfield defense and roughly 650 for patrolling occupied territories across Europe. Some German forces employed them for urban combat operations in Paris during 1944; nevertheless, by then they were largely obsolete.

Under Vichy France, Renault FT tanks engaged Allied troops during Operation Torch in North Africa but were outmatched by American M4 Sherman and M3 Stuart tanks. The final French combat deployment occurred during the Japanese invasion of French Indochina, where they defended Hue fortress.

The last documented operational use of Renault FTs took place during the 1980s Soviet–Afghan War when some were repurposed as static defenses such as pillboxes or roadblocks.

Derivatives

The FT served as the foundation for several French tank models, including the FT Kégresse, NC1, NC2, Char D1, and Char D2. Italy adopted a close replica of the FT, the Fiat 3000, as its primary tank.

In 1920, the Soviet Red Army refurbished 14 captured Renault tanks at the Krasnoye Sormovo Factory and subsequently manufactured nearly 15 exact copies named "Russkiy Reno" between 1920 and 1922. Due to mechanical difficulties, these tanks were never deployed in combat. Between 1928 and 1931, the Soviets developed their first entirely indigenous tank, the T-18, which was inspired by the Renault design but featured a sprung suspension system.

Operators

(some units; four discovered by US forces in 2003)
(54 tanks acquired in 1919; operated by a tank regiment until 1934, then by the Gendarmerie, scrapped by 1938)
(12 Carros de assalto purchased in 1921—six with 37mm cannons, five equipped with 7mm Hotchkiss machine guns, one TSF variant—later supplemented by approximately 28 additional units; active use until 1938, training continued until 1942)
(around 20 FTs utilized by the Fengtian clique and subsequently the Northeastern Army)
(12 former Yugoslav tanks employed by Ustaše Militia and another dozen by the Army during anti-partisan operations)
(seven tanks procured between 1921 and 1923; remained operational until 1933)
(four armed with cannons and eight with machine guns; obtained in 1924; service extended until 1940)
(34 tanks used from 1919 through to 1942)
Vichy France operated captured tanks supplied by Nazi Germany
(captured vehicles)
(captured vehicles)
(some tanks received from France in 1924; delivery specifics are debated)
(13 tanks deployed alongside Renault NC1s in Manchuria during 1932)
(seven FTs acquired in 1919 plus numerous Fiat 3000 tanks)
(12 FTs equipped with Maxim machine guns, purchased in 1923)
(ex-Chinese tanks from the early 1930s; later supplemented with Japanese or French models)
(one FT fitted with a Schwarzlose machine gun used for experimental purposes)
(one former American tank operated between 1936 and 1940)
(74–76 Renault FTs including around forty fitted with a 37mm cannon; procured in 1919; deployed by Regimentul 1 Care de Lupta and an internal security battalion during WWII)
White movement forces
(18 FTs delivered between 1919 and 1925 plus an additional shipment of forty-eight supplied to the Spanish Republic from France and Poland)
(one tank acquired for testing in 1923)
(two tanks purchased in 1921 plus three more obtained in 1939 for infantry training purposes)
(a company of Renault FTs received from France around either 1921 or possibly as late as 1928)
(24 tanks loaned in late WWI for command and reconnaissance roles; returned after the war)

Variants

Char canon: FT variant armed with a short-barreled 37 mm Puteaux SA18 gun; constituted about three-fifths of ordered units but only one-third were produced
Char mitrailleuse: FT equipped with an eight-millimeter Hotchkiss M1914 machine gun; roughly two-fifths ordered but three-fifths manufactured
FT 75 BS: self-propelled artillery mounting a short-barreled Blockhaus Schneider seventy-five millimeter gun; production totaled forty units
Char signal or TSF: command vehicle featuring radio equipment ("télégraphie sans fil"), unarmed, crewed by three personnel; of three hundred ordered, one hundred were built
FT modifié 31: modernized tanks fitted with a seven-point-five-millimeter Reibel machine gun, upgraded during 1933–34 on approximately one thousand chars mitrailleurs held in French reserves; occasionally referred to as "FT 31"
FT désarmé: French char canon models stripped of their thirty-seven-millimeter guns during the 1930s to free armaments for newer tanks; repurposed for various auxiliary roles:
- Pont Bourguignon sur char FT: turretless FTs adapted to carry lightweight bridges, a concept developed by General Louis Ferdinand Bourguignon
- some retrofitted with an FM 24/29 light machine gun instead of main armament
FT-Ko: thirteen examples imported by the Imperial Japanese Army in 1919, armed either with SA18 cannons or machine guns; utilized during the Manchurian Incident and for training exercises
M1917: American-produced copy of the FT; total production reached nine hundred fifty units—including three hundred seventy-four gun tanks and fifty radio-equipped variants; Canadian forces acquired two hundred thirty-six for WWII training purposes
Russkiy Reno: Soviet close reproduction manufactured at Krasnoye Sormovo Factory No. 112, also known as "Tank M" or "KS tank"; seventeen units produced
Renault FT CWS: Polish-built training vehicles utilizing French engines and components; approximately twenty-seven constructed by Central Workshops for Motor Vehicles in Warsaw
Renault M24/25 (Kégresse-Hinstin): featured rubber Kégresse tracks along with detachable rollers designed for crossing trenches; saw limited deployment during the Rif War
Renault M26/27: evolution of the FT featuring altered suspension and Kégresse rubber tracks; employed in Yugoslavia and Poland
Fiat 3000: Italian derivative model based on the FT design
T-18: Soviet development incorporating sprung suspension and Fiat engines derived from the Renault FT lineage
Polish gas tank: modification undertaken by Wojskowy Instytut Gazowy tested in 1926; replaced turret with twin gas cylinders intended for generating smoke screens or chemical warfare effects; only one prototype built
Renault FT AC: planned conversion dating from December 1939 to transform outdated FTs into tank destroyers armed with a 47 mm APX anti-tank gun, though this project was never realized

Surviving vehicles

Worldwide, around 41 FTs, two Russkiy Reno models, and three FT TSFs remain, along with twenty M1917 tanks.

Europe:

Musée des Blindés, Saumur, France: possesses three FTs (two operational), including one static piece originating from Afghanistan. Additionally, two Afghan FTs are exhibited at the Patton Museum in Kentucky. Poland has restored one FT to working condition. The collection also includes an FT TSF.
Musée de la Grande Guerre, Meaux, France: features an FT canon.
Musee de l'Armee, Paris, France: houses one FT.
Glade of the Armistice, near Compiègne, France: displays one FT.
Bovington Tank Museum, UK: holds a 1917 unarmoured training prototype.
The Weald Foundation, UK: completed restoration of an FT and a TSF by 2018.
Royal Military Museum, Belgium: presents one FT in its permanent exhibition.
National Military Museum, Romania, Bucharest: displays an FT outdoors.
Military Museum (Belgrade), Serbia: exhibits an outdoor FT.
Parola Tank Museum, Finland: features one tank in its tank hall.
Musée de l'armée Suisse, Burgdorf, Switzerland: home to the first Swiss Army tank adopted in 1922.
Museo de Medios Acorazados, El Goloso, Spain: currently repairing one FT.
Rogaland Krigshistoriske Museum, Norway: engaged in restoration efforts.
Polish Army Museum, Warsaw: acquired an FT from Afghanistan in 2012 and restored it to running order.
Overloon War Museum, Netherlands: displays a German-marked captured FT used during the Second World War.
Two life-sized replicas were constructed by Robert Tirczakowski for Jerzy Hoffman's 2011 film Battle of Warsaw 1920.
Additional FTs can be found displayed or undergoing restoration at various sites including Tellevik Coastal Fort (Norway), Wehrtechnische Studiensammlung Koblenz (Germany), Fort De Seclin (France), Ministère Des Armées (France), MM Park La Wantzenau (France), Fondation Automobile Marius Berliet (France), General Military Academy Zaragoza (Spain), Infantry Academy Toledo (Spain), Maginot Line Fortresses Hackenberg and Molvange (France), and Patriot Park Kubinka (Russia).

North America:

U.S. Army Armor and Cavalry Collection, Fort Benning, Georgia: holds two FTs salvaged from Kabul in 2003; one is restored and displayed at the National Infantry Museum while the other remains under restoration. Another FT previously at Fort Knox has been transferred to the US Army Heritage & Education Center in Pennsylvania.
Louisiana State Military Museum, New Orleans: features an FT restored after flood damage caused by Hurricane Katrina.
National World War I Museum, Kansas City, Missouri: showcases a damaged FT on display.
US Army Heritage and Education Center, Pennsylvania: presents a static FT exhibit.
Museum of the American G.I., Texas: maintains a fully operational original FT with minor battle scars.
National Museum of the United States Army, Virginia: exhibits an FT-17 known as "The Five of Hearts."
Fort Gregg-Adams, Virginia: holds an FT equipped with an M1917 turret.

South America:

Several Brazilian institutions possess FTs including Museu Militar Conde de Linhares (Rio de Janeiro), Museu Eduardo André Matarazzo (Bebedouro), 1st Region Regional Maintenance Military Park (Rio de Janeiro), Museu Histórico Do Exército E Forte De Copacabana (Rio de Janeiro), Centro De Instrução De Blindados (Santa Maria), Academia Militar Das Agulhas Negras (Resende), and 2nd Regiment Guard Cavalry (Pirassununga).

Australia:

Australian War Memorial, Canberra: stores one FT at the Treloar conservation annex located in Mitchell.

Sources

External links