Leonardo da Vinci designed an armored tank as a covered fighting vehicle with cannon openings.
His 1480s design shows a conical, turtle-like cover mounted on wheels. The sloping armor was intended to deflect projectiles, while cannons around the perimeter could fire in several directions. The vehicle was powered by people turning internal cranks rather than by an engine.
The design is often called Leonardo’s fighting vehicle, or Leonardo’s tank, although it was never built for Renaissance warfare. A frequently repeated story says a gearing error would have made the vehicle move backward; historians generally treat that as an uncertain interpretation rather than a proven deliberate secret. The drawing is still important because it combines armor, mobility, and all-around firepower centuries before modern tanks appeared.
It was one of several military concepts in Leonardo’s notebooks, alongside bridges, weapons, and fortification studies.