M1918 Ford 3-ton tank

The Ford 3-ton tank, also called the Ford Model 1918 or M1918, was one of the first indigenous tank designs of the United States. It was a small two man, one gun tank, essentially the first tankette, armed with an M1917 Marlin machine gun and later an M1917 Browning on a limited traverse mount, and it could reach 8 miles per hour. Design began in mid 1917 so that American forces could use something besides the Renault FT, around which it was designed as a cheaper alternative. Two Ford Model T engines were controlled by the driver and commander. Only fifteen were built before the Armistice ended a contract for 15,000, and the French thought it inferior to the FT but saw promise as a cheap artillery tractor and ordered 1,500, also cancelled. Two survivors are kept at Fort Benning and Fort Lee.