Leonardo da Vinci designed an armored tank with sloped plates and several cannons.
His fighting vehicle appears in sketches from the late fifteenth century. The conical, turtle-like vehicle was covered with sloped armor intended to deflect enemy fire. A ring of light cannons projected through openings around the vehicle, while crew members inside were meant to operate the machinery.
The tank was supposed to move using cranks connected to wheels. Historians have noted that the surviving drawing contains a gearing arrangement that would make the vehicle move backward unless corrected. Some interpret this as an intentional design safeguard, while others view it as an error or an incomplete plan.
Leonardo's vehicle was never built for battle. It was a proposed armored war machine, not a direct working ancestor of twentieth-century tanks, which used engines, tracks, and enclosed crew compartments.