Renault FT - Development

Development

Studies on the design of a novel light tank were initiated in May 1916 by the famous automobile and truck manufacturer Louis Renault. Evidence suggests that Louis Renault himself drew the new tank's preliminary design, unconvinced that a sufficient power-to-weight ratio could be achieved for the projected tank types requested by the military. One of his most talented designers, Rodolphe Ernst-Metzmaier, produced the final drawings.

Though his project was technically far more advanced than the other two French tanks at the time, namely the Schneider CA1(1916) and the heavy Saint-Chamond (1917), Louis Renault encountered difficulties in getting his proposal accepted by the head of the French tank arm, Colonel (later General) Jean Baptiste Eugène Estienne. After the first British use of heavy tanks, on 15 September 1916 during the Battle of the Somme, the French military commissions still pondered whether a large number of light tanks would be preferable to a smaller number of superheavy tanks (the later Char 2C). However, now with the support of Estienne who had convinced the French Commander in Chief, the light tanks were chosen as a more feasible and realistic option. After receiving two large government orders for the FT tank, one in April 1917 and the other in June 1917, Renault was at last able to proceed. However his design remained in competition with the Char 2C until the very end of the war.

The prototype was slowly refined during the second half of 1917, although the Renault FT remained plagued by radiator fan belt problems throughout the war. Only 84 were produced in 1917 but 2,697 were delivered in 1918 before the Armistice. At least 3,177 were produced in total, perhaps more; some estimates go as high as 4,000 for all versions combined. However, 3,177 is the delivery total to the French Army; 514 were perhaps directly delivered to the U.S. Army, 24 to Great Britain, and three to Italy - giving a probable total production number of 3,694.