Boirault machine The Boirault machine ( French : " Appareil Boirault " ) , was an early French experimental landship , designed in 1914 and built in early 1915 . It has been considered as " another interesting ancestor of the tank " , and described as a " rhomboid - shaped skeleton tank without armour , with single overhead track " . Ultimately , the machine was deemed impractical and was nicknamed " Diplodocus militaris " . It preceded the design and development of the English Little Willie tank by six months . Background . The immobility of the trench warfare characterizing the First World War led to a need for a powerfully armed military engine that would be at the same time protected from enemy fire and could move on the extremely irregular terrain of battlefields . As early as 24 August 1914 , the French colonel Jean Baptiste Eugène Estienne articulated the vision of a cross - country armoured vehicle : Development . First Boirault machine . One of the first attempts was made in France with the early experiment made with the Boirault machine , developed in 1914 by French engineer Louis Boirault , proposed to the French War Ministry in December 1914 , and ordered for construction on 3 January 1915 . On 19 January a commission , headed by Sub - secretary of State of Inventions Paul Painlevé , was formed to evaluate the project . The objective of the machine was flattening barbed wire defences and riding over gaps in a battlefield . The machine was made of huge parallel tracks , formed by six 4x3 meter metallic frames , each with four transverse beams , so that it could also be described as a single track covering the entire width of the vehicle , rotating around a triangular motorized center , and driven via chains and rods by a 80 hp petrol engine . This device proved too fragile and slow however , as well as incapable of changing direction easily , as was indicated be a report on 17 May . The project was officially abandoned on 10 June 1915 . Upon the insistence of the inventor , modifications were made , a new commission was formed and new trials organized on 4 November 1915 , for the benefit of the Engineer Arm . The machine , loaded with nine tonnes of simulation weights , successfully flattened an eight metre wide barbed wire obstacle , overcame a funnel with a diameter of five metres and crossed a trench two metres wide . It reached a speed of 1 , 6 km / h . A second test on 13 November showed however that it was still extremely difficult to change direction . The whole assembly had to be lifted by a main jack , after which it could be turned for a maximum of 45° by hand from the outside or by a system of smaller jacks from the inside of the machine . Again the project was rejected , because of its visibility , noise , vulnerability , low speed and lack of manoeuvrability . Military historian Lieutenant - Colonel André Duvignac concluded that those that had baptised it " Diplodocus militaris " ( after a giant sauropod dinosaur , well - known at the period ) " were not only poor humorists but also good judges " . Second Boirault machine . A new model was developed , more compact and lighter , with armour for the engine and the driver compartment . It was composed of six metal plates rotating around the core chassis , and had some level of steering control , allowing for a turning radius of 100 meters . Speed however was extremely low , at 1 km / h . The new model was tried by the Artillery Arm on 17 August 1916 at Souain - Perthes - lès - Hurlus , until complete abandonment of the project . General Henri Gouraud commented on the performance of the machine on 20 August 1916 , explaining that it ran for 1 , 500 meters in flat terrain , at about 1 km / h . It managed to cross a railroad , flatten a line of barbed wire , and crossed trenches 1 . 5 and 1 . 8 meters wide , and a hole two meters in diameter . General Gouraud commented on the sheer strength of the machine , but its weak ability to properly direct itself : Aftermath . The project was actually abandoned , as regular tanks were being developed . A few months before , in October 1914 , the French arms manufacturer Schneider & Co . had already sent out its chief designer , Eugène Brillié , to investigate tracked tractors from the American Holt Company , at that time participating in a test programme in England . This Schneider program was met with approval by the French War Ministry and was merged with the Estienne plan , and a production order of 400 Schneider CA1 , the first French tank to see the battlefield , was made on 25 February 1916 .