Christie's design had more influence in Europe, with the USSR and the UK developing Christie's ideas in the form of Bystrokhodny (fast) tanks and cruiser tanks respectively.

The M1928 was demonstrated unofficially to the US Army by traversing a route at an average speed of 45 km/h (28 mph); by contrast the US Army's T1E1 tanks – expected to replace their WWI-era M1917 light tanks – averaged 16 km/h (9.9 mph) over the same route.

This prompted sufficient interest to properly consider Christie's ideas.

In 1930, after protracted negotiations, a contract was signed with Christie's US Wheel Track Layer Corporation to build an improved version of the M1928 at a cost of $55,000.

The remaining four were passed to the 1st Cavalry Regiment (Mechanized) at Fort Knox.