FT light tank
Renault FT-17 light-tank armed with Hotchkiss 8mm machine-gun. 28 serviced in the Romanian Army.
Renault FT-17 light-tank armed with Puteaux 37mm gun. 48 serviced in the Romanian Army.
The FT-17 tank in the courtyard of the National Military Museum in Bucharest
Seventy-six Renault FT-17 tanks were obtained by Romanian-French collaboration in 1919 and equipped the first Romanian tank battalion. 48 of these tanks were armed with a Puteaux 37mm gun and 28 were armed with a Hotchkiss 8mm machine-gun. The vehicle was operated by a crew of two: the driver and the commander, the latter handling the armament in a 360° rotating turret. During the inter-war period, part of the Renault FT-17 tanks were refurbished at Leonida Works and at the Arsenal of the Army in Bucharest. At the outbreak of the war in the East, the outdated FT-17 tanks, designated "FT", formed the independent FT Tank Battalion. They were used for security duties in important industrial and urban centres of Romania (Bucharest, Ploiesti, Sibiu, Resita) and training. They played an important role in the rapid annihilation of German forces in these centres during the insurgency of 23 August 1944. All of them were confiscated by the Soviets in February 1945.

Specifications
Crew2
Weight6.5t
Length4.04m
Width1.73m
Height2.13m
EngineRenault 4 cylinders, 35hp, water cooled
Fuelpetrol
Max speed7.72km/h
Suspensionsheet and helical springs
Armament1 x 37mm Puteaux gun or
1 x 8mm Hotchkiss mg
Armour6-22mm
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User Comments Add Comment
Stoica Eugen  (7 November 2005)
Este regretabil ca un tanc atat de rar este tinut in aceasta stare , si mai ales ca este tinut in aer liber !!