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Patton, who would come to greater fame in a later conflict, was one of the first U.S. "They seemed to get stuck or easily set on fire wherever they appeared and the planned use of the FT17 didn't materialize."ģ,530 units were ordered originally, with production later increased and nearly 1,000 American copies built, though none of the American versions saw any combat because the war had ended by the time production was ramped up. However, both the larger tanks were "major failures," says Willey. One version of the FT17 carried radios to forward positions to allow the French to take quicker advantage of emerging opportunities. It was expected to accompany and protect infantry as well as exploit breakthroughs made by its bigger brethren. The FT was designed to go into battle with two larger French tanks, the Schneider CA1 and the Saint-Chamond. As a cheap, lightweight, maneuverable, and comparably quick tank, the FT was designed to overwhelm enemy firing positions with sheer numbers. Renault, though he had no experience with tracked vehicles, took up the challenge and ended up helping pioneer a century of armored vehicle development. French general Jean Baptiste Eugène Estienne, considered to be the "father of French tanks," asked Renault to build a tank that was lighter and more nimble than the models already in service, which were large, heavy, and slow. Much of the FT was designed by Louis Renault, founder of the French automaker that still exists today. The FT has been called the world's first modern tank.

To find the root of the tank’s dominance over how we fight now, we have to look back to May 1918, when France’s Renault FT tank first rolled into battle. It wasn’t always that way-a century ago, horses were still important to ground campaigns and motor vehicles were just beginning to ferry officers on European battlefields. Tanks play a fundamental role in modern warfare. One hundred years after the start of the war, we’re taking a look back at the most remarkable vehicles-planes, cars, tanks, zeppelins-the war helped bring about.

World War I was shaped by a whole pile of new vehicles developed during the fours years of conflict.