Leonardo da Vinci’s armored tank design was intended to be operated by eight people.
The vehicle’s enclosed, conical shell was designed to protect its crew while its surrounding cannons fired outward. Leonardo’s plan placed operators inside the structure to turn cranks connected to the wheels and to manage the weapons. The commonly cited crew size is eight men.
The design was never documented as a completed battlefield vehicle. Its driving mechanism also appears problematic in the surviving drawing, because the gear arrangement would make the wheels difficult to drive as shown. That problem has led to continuing discussion about whether the drawing contains an error or whether Leonardo intentionally obscured part of the mechanism.
The eight-person figure describes the planned operating crew, not a verified crew from a successful trial. The vehicle is also called Leonardo’s fighting vehicle or armored car. Calling it a tank is a modern comparison based on its protective armor and weapon arrangement, not the historical name Leonardo used.