High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! As the American army did not have tanks of its own, the French two-man Renault FT Light Tank was used by US in the later stages of World War I. It was cheap and well-suited for mass production, and in addition to its traversable turret another innovative feature of the FT was its engine located at the rear. This pattern, with the gun located in a mounted turret and rear engine, became the standard for most succeeding tanks across the world even to this day.