Construction of the French torpedo boats began after World War I, influenced by the success of Italian and British boats. In 1921, France purchased two Thornycroft boats from the United Kingdom: a 40-foot boat and a 55-foot boat, which became VTA-1 and VTB-1, respectively. These boats served as the basis for a series of experimental French-designed vessels, the VTB 2–7 and the VTA 2–4. However, due to their unsatisfactory performance, none of them entered mass production.

In 1928, the VTB-8, VTB-9, and VTB-10 prototypes were developed to address the shortcomings of earlier boats. They were armed with 7.7 mm machine guns for air defense and two torpedoes for engaging larger ships. The main difference between the boats was their torpedo launch systems. The VTB-8 was equipped with unreliable torpedo drop collar launchers, which were replaced by Schneider trough-type launchers on the VTB-9. The VTB-10 had pneumatic torpedo launchers. This boat was built with an experimental propulsion system, but due to reliability issues it never entered service.

The VTB-10 was introduced in Update 2.47, "Leviathans". Unlike the VTB-9, it is a fast boat and has enhanced armament in the form of a 20 mm gun. Its torpedoes are weak, but sufficient to sink a torpedo boat or a subchaser. However, survivability is low and losing the bow gunner leaves the boat entirely unarmed.