The renault ft light tank vanguard paperback january 1, 1988. The financial times and its journalism are subject to a selfregulation regime under the ft editorial code of practice. Us tanks head for afghanistan us news the guardian. In various modifications, in different armies, at different times, in different situations. Squadron ft17m1917 wwi tank walk around authentic scale. World war i french renault ft17 tanks found in afghanistan. Meng ft17 part 2 interior paint and install youtube. Soviet tank crewmen sometimes abandoned their vehicles.
Dec 21, 2010 the later use of the ft 17 in wwii and afghanistan are side notes to a most successful career for this first modern tank. Found in a tank graveyard near kabul afghanistan by another soldier in my unit back in 2002. In february 1989, after more than nine years of fighting, the soviet union withdrew from afghanistan. If you look at the tracks on the 2 tanks picked up by the american army you can see that. Plus some footage of what looks like active use of these beast in the 1980s. After all the french fielded more tanks than any other nation in ww1 and it was a french design, the ft17, that heralded the modern tank with its turreted layout. Two battalions, the 344th and 345th, received the tanks, and the american ft 17 crews entered combat at st. Here at the 111th divisions base, the afghan national armys lone tank battalion has about 44 t55 and t62 tanks that are in some kind of working order. Thanks to the fully rotating turret, the arm could reach around the entirety of the vehicle without the need for the vehicle to move. Most of the book deals with the renault ft tanks, the most well known and photographed, french tank of wwi but good coverage is also given to the earlier schneider ca and st. Price is for one book, please indicate what book you need. The false designation ft 17, which has been around for many years, originated in a german tashenbuch or identification manual of the 1930s, in which the authors attempted to classify french tanks by attributing to each one a year of origin.
The renault ft17 was the worlds first normal tank as people today understand the term. After the french armys disaster at verdun and the massed mutinies of 1917 the french army was nearly as in poor shape as the wreck russian army. The later renault ft was the first operational tank with a modern configuration. Tank ft 17 tsf ft 31 nc27 nc2 book fi for 5 meng rpm panzershop armo model kits etc. Two other tanks from afghanistan were given to the patton museum of. Anyone want to bet against the ft not being out of service even yet. In many cases, they remained in royal afghan army use long after they had faded elsewhere in the world. The renault ft light tank or renault ft light tank might be an excellent name for a book chapter but it is less than ideal for a wikipedia article because it is even less common than renault ft and there is an element of original research in the translation from the french char leger. High food price and drought crisis july 2008 june 2009 afghanistan drought joint appeal 2006 afghanistan ungovernment drought appeal 2004. Soviet breakthrough and pursuit in the arctic, october 1944, represents a seminal contribution to a field of historical research that has not been thoroughly explored by our armys doctrinal community. The main criticism of this book is that the subject is much larger than can be contained in just 48 pages. The later use of the ft 17 in wwii and afghanistan are side notes to a most successful career for this first modern tank. Renault ft 17 wwi light tank this was the first real armored wwi tank and was used by many countries all the way into wwii.
Entries are listed below in alphanumeric order 1toz. In the mountains, tanks have been confined to roads and areas that have been cleared of mines and explosives. The scale renault is an rpm kit of the french tank that in 1918 became the first driven into combat by americans in world war i. M1 abrams are first us tanks to be deployed in the nineyear war against the taliban staff and agencies fri 19 nov 2010 06. Thereafter, he was one of the leading theorists of armored warfare in the 1920s and 1930s and wrote fortyfive books on warfare, theoretical tracts, histories, and studies of generalship during an extraordinarily productive life as a molder of opinion on military affairs. The tanks of today are much better equipped to deal with urban combat than the tanks that were used in afghanistan in the 1980s. The vehicles rotating turret, rearengine, driverforward design are characteristics of the most advanced tanks even today. The renault ft was a french light tank that was among the most revolutionary and influential.
The turret is supplanted by a weighted and fixed observation cab with forward and sidefacing windows and a dummy gun. Once regrouped after the axis invasion of june 1941, the soviet army proved something of an unstoppable force its armored corps becoming the spearhead to victory. The renault ft17 series of light tank was an evolutionary design in the field of combat tanks that would go on to influence tanks for nearly a century. I agree james and mr lemons about renault ft found in afghanistan. One of those tanks is actually being examined by us and french military, and is to be send to patton museum in fort knox. The tank is clearly an offensive vehicle, but with a mineroller in front and 70 tons of steel to protect its crew, tanks are a fantastic combination of offense and defense on the battlefield. I have learned they are being restored at the patton museum on fort knox. Model tank renault ft17 model van tank, model van pantservoertuig, alle modellen van tanks, pantserwagens, pantsers, tanks bij 1001hobbies. Jun 01, 2015 a junked disston tank in afghanistan during the early 2000s. Tanks to afghanistan, a soldier writes the new york times. The main gun is just a spare barrel from 61k 37mm aa gun, welded onto the turrets weapon port to make the vehicle appear more menacing after it left active service. The arm was made by case poclain, an american company that specializes in the construction of excavators. This volume presents a careful study of the details and variations of this innovative vehicle, inside and out. Jan 12, 2020 color photos of world war ii tanks found around the world.
And it was the ft17 that went on to have a combat career far beyond any other tank of the war, serving through to the early years of the second world war. During operations in afghanistan in 2003, major robert redding, an us special forces serviceman, found the rusted remnants of two wwi era renault ft17, tattered and disassembled, while visiting an afghan scrap yard in kabul. Long isolated and neutral, afghanistan before 1973 used an amazing assortment of wwiiera tanks, artillery, and fighting vehicles. The renault ft frequently referred to in postworld war i literature as the ft17, ft17, or similar was a french light tank that was among the most revolutionary and influential tank designs in history. See more ideas about world war, world war ii and war. The names renault ft17, renault ft17, renault ft 17 18, renault ft m17 and char leger renault ft 17 light tank renault ft 17 were applied to the tank after ww1. The names renault ft17, renault ft17, renault ft 1718, renault ft m17 and char leger renault ft 17 light tank renault ft 17 were applied to the tank after ww1. Discover the best afghan war military history in best sellers. Surviving ww1 french renault ft17 tank in saumur france. Coalition forces found a cache of french world war 1 ft 17 tanks.
Ferdinandelephant german spg ww2 exmo, 94 pages, photos, color profiles, 5 drawings, used condition. Afghanistan ft17 renault tank armchair general and. The news that american tanks are en route to southern afghanistan does not come out of the blue. Nov 19, 2010 the us is sending battle tanks to afghanistan for the first time in the nineyear war against the taliban, the washington post reported today citing unnamed officers and defence officials, the. Throughout the war, tanks have not been used very much. By the middle of 1980, an entire tank regiment had been recalled to the soviet union because it was deemed useless. Aug 08, 2019 afghanistan joint emergency appeal 2008. Afghan armys rusty tank relics still roll into battle. The renault ft light tank vanguard steven zaloga, peter sarson on amazon. This particular vehicle was fitted with a new main gun. A french blog post about the search and rescue of the ft 17 tank in afghanistan. The m1 abrams is a thirdgeneration american main battle tank designed by chrysler defense now general dynamics land systems.
William dalrymples top 10 books on afghanistan books the. A 100 years ago, when most armies saw tanks as land ships and created odd contraptions full of weird shapes, guns facing in all directions, and requiring a dozen or more people to man them, renault chose to design something simple and effective. Browse the amazon editors picks for the best books of 2019, featuring our favorite. Afghanistan army tanks of military history from the first. These are the same tanks that young us cavalry captain george patton learned to drive in world war 1 france and changed the cavalry forever from horses and carbines to mechanized units. Tank development went on at the same pace in great britain and in france in 1915.
Czolg reno ft 17 ft 17 tanks found in afghanistan youtube. See more ideas about ww1 tanks, wwi and world war i. Paving the way for tank development renault ft 17 in 30. Jul 28, 20 in 2003 four world war one era renault ft 17 light tanks were dicovered in afghanistan sources of photos. Afghanistan army tanks of military history from the first to the last largely reliant on soviet armor throughout the cold war, it remains to be seen what type of combat force the rebuilding afghanistan army becomes. The battle for the ft 17 tank in afghanistan by galileo. This tank was recovered by french military special forces in afghanistan and brought back to france in 2007. While renault ft 17 had been noted obviously outdated, when finnish army was mobilised in october of 1939, two out of the four tank companies forming its one and only tank battalion were still equipped with these tanks. The renault was also called ft 17 as a factory code for tank projects run by the renault automobile company. An afghan ft17 tank, built by renault in the 1910s. Aug 03, 20 as far as i know, two and maybe one more for spare parts were shipped back to the states and were sent to the patton museum ft. Matthew vincent and colleagues discuss the weeks news in banking. The ft 17 was designed from the outset to be of a lightweight classification which offered better mobility and road speed than its lumbering medium and heavy tank counterparts. John pershing, was one of the first to learn how to operate this type of tank.
The noise of the ft17s engine a foot behind him, the clanking of the treads just. Renault ft 17 is commonly known as a historical breakthrough and the first modern tank. He allowed one of the tanks to be taken out of afghanistan, to the patton museum. He has contributed chapters on the subject to several academic books and he has. Close drawer menu financial times international edition. Jan 17, 2018 more than 16 years and hundreds of deployments into the war in afghanistan, the story of the first ground troops to strike back after the september 11, 2001, attacks on the u. Check back regularly to find your next favourite book. Not quite sure if it is the same tank, but one ft 17 was recovered2012 in afghanistan and gifted to poland. Army was able to employ artillery very rarely, for the simple reason that the indians refused to concentrate or stay put long enough for it to be used. Benning the ft 18 had been restored to almost complete condition and was on. When the soviets withdrew, they left tanks behind in afghanistan. In the photo of the ft on the plinth, some sort of gun or carriage is visible behind it, on top of the wall. When american troops invaded afghanistan in 2001 they found several examples of this wwi ft 17 tank.
Meng french ft17 light tank cast turret plastic model. Czolg reno ft 17 ft 17 tanks found in afghanistan duration. With the help of french major thierry delbarre at right in this picture, the project manager and historians from the 326th military history detachment, a reserve unit from columbus, ohio, such as major charles boyd at left in the picture, the best tank was chosen. Louis renault, the famous car maker and owner of the renault automobile company, had begun designing a tank that had a realistic powertoweight. Introduced in 1917, the renault ft 17 and its americanbuilt copy, the m1917, revolutionized tank design. Renault ft17 is commonly known as a historical breakthrough and the first modern tank. Over 3,000 renault ft tanks were manufactured by french industry, most of. The leopard 2 driver training tank, as the name implies, is a noncombatant leopard 2 for instructing soldiers in the finer points of handling the tank. Afghanistan had a president from 1973 to 92, so, in the light of the revelation about the taliban scrap metal business, the tank must have been moved at some time after 1992.
Feb 05, 20 prime cuts of a joint force protection team comprised of army, navy, air force and marines practicing advanced shooting techniques on a range in kabul, afghanistan. The deployment which is small, at fourteen tanks mirrors those by similar numbers of canadian and danish tanks to the same region since 2006. The ft was the first production tank to have its armament within a fully rotating turret. Before tanks were a part of the army, this tank helped the u. A last development was the superheavy char 2c, the largest tank ever built, be it some years after the armistice. Frontline illustration books were published in small editions in 20042014, they are hard to find, even in russia. I do not know wether there was already a topic about the most long serving tanks, but today i read in a magazine that afghanistan apparently used renault ft 17 tanks in 1980 or 81 against the soviets. Best nonfiction war books, around the world one book from each country, best iraq and afghanistan war books, best books on special forces m. Tank ft17 tsf ft31 nc27 nc2 book fi for 5 meng rpm. If there is a vehicle on the ground in afghanistan, the enemy will find a way to blow.
As the american expeditionary force aef grew in numbers and importance in 1918, it too was given ft 17s. The renault ft 17 page contains all related products, articles, books, walkarounds and plastic scale modeling projects dedicated to this vehicle. I wonder how the vehicles ended up in that country and when. During world war i, he was the gso1 of the tank corps. Prior to the moving of most of the patton museums vehicles to ft. World war 1 french renault ft17 tanks found in afghanistan. The french tank corps was an essential part of the french army from 1917 onwards, yet its. These losses were largely made good with new ft 17 tanks, and so the heavy tank units became mixed units. It is renovated and you can see it at poznans tanks museum. Find the top 100 most popular items in amazon books best sellers. Csi press publications on doctrine, policy and technology.
Advanced military shooting in kabul, afghanistan by joint. French renault ft17 tank in kabul, afghanistan, may be one of the polish tanks captured by the soviets and requipped with a hotchkiss 37mm naval gun or one of the white russian renaults captured by the red army. Afghans found 4 tanks and gifted them to usa2,france and poland. A battle to retrieve them and the why usa, uk and poland also wanted them. New osprey french tanks of world war i, in which he says that some ft s were still being used as pillboxes in afghanistan during the soviet invasion. The 5 scale renault ft 17 is an rpm kit of the french tank that in 1918 became the first driven into combat by americans in world war i. Conceived for modern armored ground warfare and now one of the heaviest tanks in service at nearly 68 short tons almost 62 metric tons, it introduced several innovative features, including a multifuel turbine engine, sophisticated chobham composite armor, a computer. The battle for the ft17 tank in afghanistan ground zero. Renault ft 17 found rusting away in afghanistan 2002. Stop the tank, he shouted again, just as the artillery diminished the poilu. Short video footage of renault ft 17 tanks found in afghanistan, 2003.
781 915 1141 1518 57 349 500 864 1211 402 1135 44 582 711 1519 406 602 303 447 908 966 72 1230 450 1356 378 1195 1239 694 753 600 657 313 23 79 489 660 319 312 1425 1301 1428 1391 1478 1147