Leonardo da Vinci designed an armored tank with a conical cover and multiple guns.
His fighting vehicle, usually called Leonardo's tank, was drawn around 1487 or 1488. The machine had a large, sloping, turtle-like armored shell with openings for light cannons arranged around its perimeter. Inside, a group of men would turn cranks connected to wheels, theoretically moving the vehicle across a battlefield.
The design was intended to provide protection while allowing the occupants to fire in many directions. It was not built during Leonardo's lifetime, and historians debate how practical it would have been. A commonly discussed problem is that the gear arrangement shown in the drawing would make the wheels turn in conflicting directions. Some writers suggest this may have been an intentional error, possibly inserted to keep the design from being used without Leonardo's control.
Although the vehicle is often called the first tank, that label is retrospective. Modern tanks use engines, tracks, and specialized armor. Leonardo's machine was an early armored land-vehicle concept rather than a working tank in the modern military sense.