What armored military vehicle did Leonardo da Vinci design in 1487?

Leonardo da Vinci designed an armored tank, often called Leonardo’s fighting vehicle, in 1487.

The vehicle was a conical armored structure mounted on wheels. Its sloping shell was intended to deflect incoming fire, while several small cannons projected through openings around the sides. A crew inside would turn cranks to drive the wheels.

The design was never built as a functioning military vehicle in Leonardo’s lifetime. Some modern commentators point out that the original plan contains a mechanical problem: the gears as drawn would make the wheels rotate in opposite directions. That may have been an error, a deliberate concealment or an unfinished detail.

Leonardo’s vehicle was not a tank in the modern technological sense. It had no engine, turret or continuous tracks. The term “tank” is used retrospectively because it combined armor, mobility and mounted weapons.