Leonardo da Vinci designed an armored tank with sloped protection and multiple cannons.
His fighting vehicle appears in a drawing from about 1487 to 1489. The machine resembles a large conical or turtle-shaped cover mounted on wheels. Its sloping armor was intended to deflect incoming weapons, while a ring of light cannons projected through openings around the vehicle.
The vehicle was supposed to move using cranks connected to internal wheels. It was never built for Renaissance warfare, and the design contains a famous mechanical problem: one set of instructions appears to make the wheels turn in conflicting directions. Historians debate whether this was an error, a deliberate safeguard, or a hidden way to prevent unauthorized construction.
Calling the machine a tank is convenient but anachronistic. Modern tanks are powered armored fighting vehicles with tracked or wheeled mobility, turrets, and advanced weapons. Leonardo’s design was an armored siege vehicle concept. Its sloped shell and concentrated firepower nevertheless make it one of the best-known precursors to later armored vehicles.