Tanks in France Tanks employed by the military of France were first used during World War I , and later developed during the interwar period in response to development in the field by other military powers . French tanks saw combat during World War II , and were further developed during the Cold War . Overview . French development into tanks began during World War I as an effort to overcome the stalemate of trench warfare . The Schneider CA1 was the first tank produced by France , and 400 units were built . The French also experimented with various tank designs , such as the Frot - Laffly landship , Boirault machine and Souain experiment . Another 400 Saint - Chamond tanks were manufactured from April 1917 to July 1918 , however these tanks were largely underpowered and of limited utility due to the design of the caterpillar tracks , which were too short in comparison with the tank ' s length and weight . History . World War II . At the start of the war , France had one of the largest tank forces in the world along with the Soviet , British and German forces . The French had planned for a defensive war and built tanks accordingly ; infantry tank s were designed to be heavily armoured . Within France and its colonies , roughly 5 , 800 tanks were available during the time of the German offensive . The design of French tanks were not inadequate to their German counterparts ; in fact , many French tank designs outpowered various early German tanks used during the first stages of the war . One single Char B1 was able to destroy thirteen German tanks within a few minutes in Stonne on 16 May 1940 , all of them Panzer III and Panzer IV tanks . The 37mm and 20mm guns the Germans used were ineffective at penetrating the thick armour of the B1 , which was able to return safely despite being hit a large number of times . Setbacks the French military suffered were more related to strategy , tactics and organisation than technology and design . Almost 80 percent of French tanks did not have radios , since the battle doctrine employed by the French military was more a slow - paced , deliberate conformance to planned maneuvers . French tank warfare was severely restricted as tanks were assigned to infantry divisions , and were intended to provide support for infantry . Unlike Germany , which had dedicated tank divisions , France did not separate tanks from the infantry , and were unable to respond quickly to the Blitzkrieg tactics employed by the Germans , which involved rapid movement , mission - type orders and combined - arms tactics . Cold War . Various tank designs were built by France after World War II . Tank models such as the AMX - 13 and AMX - 30 were also exported to various other nations . Newer French tank designs sacrificed armour protection for increased mobility , due to the idea that the large amount of armour required to protect against modern anti - tank threats would significantly affect maneuverability , and that a higher speed and more compact vehicle dimensions would be more effective in protecting the tank from potential threats . A rift formed between France and West Germany following Charles de Gaulle ' s decision that France would no longer participate in NATO , with West Germany opposing a standardised common tank project . In 1963 , both West Germany and France declared that they would produce purely national tanks . Development towards main battle tank projects such as the AMX - 30 occurred soon afterwards .