Leonardo da Vinci sketched an armoured tank, or fighting vehicle, with a conical cover and internal wheels.
The machine appears in a drawing from around 1487–1488. Its sloping outer shell was intended to deflect weapons, and the vehicle carried several guns arranged around its broad platform. Men inside would turn cranks connected to the wheels, moving the machine while remaining protected by the armour.
The design is frequently called an early tank, although it was never built as a functioning military vehicle in Leonardo’s lifetime. Some reconstructions have noted that the gear arrangement shown in the drawing would make the vehicle difficult or impossible to drive as drawn. This may have resulted from an intentional design flaw, a drafting mistake, or an unfinished concept.
Leonardo’s machine was not a tank in the twentieth-century sense. It had no engine, turret, or continuous tracks, but its armoured, gun-carrying role resembles the later category.