High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The Renault FT, frequently referred to in post-WWI literature as the "FT-17" or "FT17" (see Nomenclature), was a French light tank; it is among the most revolutionary and influential tank designs in history. The FT was the first operational tank with an armament in a fully rotating turret, and its configuration with the turret on top, engine in the back and the driver in front became the conventional one, repeated in most tanks until today. Armour historian Steven Zaloga has called the Renault FT "the world`s first modern tank".