page_title: Renault FT
section_title: Variants
hierarchical_section_title: Renault FT / Variants
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Photographie allemande - (col. Normandie Mémoire) Un char abandonné le long d'une haie sur le bord d'une route, il s'agit d'un FT-31 (ou char FT "mitrailleuse") Renault n°66187 ex FT-17 rééquipé avec une mitrailleuse modèle 1931 Reibel de 7,5mm (en 1931, les FT 17 mitrailleuses sont modifiés par l'arsenal de Rueil.) un lion rampant est peint sur la tourelle et sur l'arrière l'insigne du 66ème BCC (Bataillon de Chars de Combat) www.flickr.com/photos/mlq/993994123/ Hors le 66e BCC est en 1940 au Maroc. A Casablanca avec 2 sections soit 6 FT17/31 et à Marrakech avec 2 sections soit 6 FT17/31. Il appartient au GBCC (Groupe de Bataillon de Chars de Combat) 522 formé le 2 sept 1939 au Maroc avec les 62e BCC et 66e BCC. Dans le JMO (Journal de Marche et d'opérations) du 66e BCC, nulle mention d'un détachement vers la France. Mystère&#160;? Reportage de 3 photos&#160;: p003069, p003070 et p003071 (File:P003069 Renault FT mod 31 n°66187 near Lisieux, June 1940.jpg, File:P003070 Renault FT mod 31 n°66187 near Lisieux, June 1940.jpg et File:P003071 Renault FT mod 31 n°66187 near Lisieux, June 1940.jpg)
context_page_description: The Renault FT was a French light tank that was among the most revolutionary and influential tank designs in history. The FT was the first production tank to have its armament within a fully rotating turret. The Renault FT's configuration – crew compartment at the front, engine compartment at the back, and main armament in a revolving turret – became and remains the standard tank layout. Consequently, some historians of armoured warfare have called the Renault FT the world's first modern tank.
  Over 3,000 Renault FT tanks were manufactured by French industry, most of them during 1918. Another 950 of an almost identical licensed copy of the FT were made in the United States, but not in time to take part in World War I.
context_section_description: Char canon: an FT with a 37 mm Puteaux SA18 short-barreled gun – about 3/5 of tanks ordered, about 1/3 of tanks actually produced
  Char mitrailleuse: an FT with an 8 mm Hotchkiss M1914 machine gun – about 2/5 of tanks ordered, about 3/5 of tanks produced
  FT 75 BS: a self propelled gun with a short barreled Blockhaus Schneider 75mm gun – 40 were produced.
  Char signal or TSF: a command tank with a radio. "TSF" stands for télégraphie sans fil ("wireless"). No armament, three-men crew, 300 ordered, 100 produced.
  FT modifié 31: upgraded tanks with 7.5 mm Reibel machine gun. After trials from 1929 to 1931, this modification was made in 1933–1934 on 1000 chars mitrailleurs still in French stocks. This version was sometimes referred to as the "FT 31", though this was not the official name.
  FT désarmé : French char canon whose 37mm gun has been removed in the 1930s to arm modern tanks, and used for various purposes:
  Pont Bourguignon sur char FT: FT without turret carrying a light bridge, from an idea of General Louis Ferdinand Bourguignon.
  some were rearmed with a FM 24/29 light machine gun
  FT-Ko: Thirteen modified units imported by the Imperial Japanese Army in 1919, armed with either the 37mm SA18 cannon or machine guns; used in combat in the Manchurian Incident and subsequently for training
  M1917 – US-built copy. 950 built, 374 of which were gun tanks and fifty of which were radio tanks. During World War II the Canadian Army purchased 236 redundant M1917s for training purposes.
  Russkiy Reno: the "Russian Renault", the first Soviet tank, produced at Krasnoye Sormovo. A close copy. 17 units were produced. Also known as "Tank M" or "KS tank".
  Renault FT CWS: the Renault FT CWS or Zelazny ("mild steel") tanks were built in Poland for use as training vehicles only (Polish combat tanks were French manufactured). These tanks used spare French engines and components. The hulls and turrets were manufactured to French specifications in all other respects. Around 27 CWS FT tanks were built. CWS is the abbreviation for Centralne Warsztaty Samochodowe (translated as "Central Workshops for Motor vehicles" or "Central Truck Workshop"), a plant in Warsaw which performed maintenance and depot level repair.
  Renault M26/27: a development of the FT with a different suspension and Kégresse rubber tracks; a number were used in Yugoslavia and five in Poland.
  FIAT 3000 – an Italian derivation.
  T-18 – A Soviet derivation with sprung suspension and Fiat engines.
  Polish gas tank – A Polish modification built in the Wojskowy Instytut Gazowy ("Military Gas Institute") and tested on the Rembertów proving ground on 5 July 1926. Instead of a turret, the tank had twin gas cylinders. It was designed to create smoke screens, but could also be used for chemical attacks. Only one was produced.
  Renault FT AC: A plan to convert France's obsolete FTs into tank destroyers. The tank never left the drawing board. It was designed to have a 25mm anti-tank gun or a 47mm APX anti-tank gun.
caption: FT modifié 31 destroyed near Lisieux (Normandy) in June 1940.
exif: {"Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "300", "Image YResolution": "300", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS Windows", "Image DateTime": "2005:10:12 00:51:13", "Image ExifOffset": "164", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "302", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "6571", "EXIF ColorSpace": "Uncalibrated", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "3671", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2480"}