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Under the influence of Colonel [[Jean-Baptiste Eugène Estienne]] the French pioneered the use of a full 360º rotation, fully traversable, [[gun turret|turret]] in a tank for the first time in 1917, with the creation and deployment of the [[Renault FT-17]] light tank, with the turret containing the tank's main armament. Aside of the traversable turret another innovative feature of the FT-17 was about its engine located on the back on the tank rather than the front. This pattern, with the gun located on a mounted turret and with the engine on the back, became the standard for most succeeding tanks across the world even to this day (with some exception like modern Israeli tanks were the engine is on the front).<ref>Steven J. Zaloga, ''The Renault FT Light Tank'', London 1988</ref>
[[Image:FT-17-argonne-1918.gif|thumb|right|Renault FT-17 tanks, here operated by the US army, pioneered the use of a fully traversable turret and served as pattern for most modern tanks.]]
Mechanical problems, poor mobility and piecemeal tactical deployment limited the military significance of the tank in World War I, and the tank did not fulfill its promise of rendering trench warfare [[obsolete]]. Nonetheless, it was clear to military thinkers on both sides that tanks would play a significant role in future conflicts.<ref name = "Willmott2003">[[#Willmott2003|Willmott (2003)]], ''First World War''</ref>
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