What armored Leonardo da Vinci invention was designed as a cone-shaped fighting vehicle?

Leonardo da Vinci’s tank was a cone-shaped armored fighting vehicle designed to move using manually operated wheels.

Leonardo drew the vehicle in about 1487 for the ruler of Milan, Ludovico Sforza. Its sloping armor was intended to deflect incoming weapons, while a ring of light cannons projected around the platform. The vehicle was powered by crews turning cranks connected to a system of gears.

The design has often been called the first tank, but it was not a practical modern tank. Its historical drawing contains a gear arrangement that appears mechanically unsuitable: the wheels would oppose the intended movement unless the gearing were corrected. Some historians think this may have been deliberate, hiding the design from potential rivals.

Unlike a modern tank, Leonardo’s vehicle had no engine, turret, or independent suspension. It was a paper design for a mobile armored artillery platform. Its importance lies in combining armor, propulsion, and concentrated firepower in one machine concept.