Leonardo da Vinci’s early armored fighting vehicle is commonly described as an armored tank.
Leonardo designed the vehicle in the 1480s while working for Ludovico Sforza in Milan. His drawing shows a conical, turtle-like cover made from wooden plates reinforced with metal. Sloping armor would have helped deflect projectiles, while several light cannons projected through openings around the vehicle’s perimeter.
The vehicle was intended to carry a crew and move across a battlefield, but Leonardo’s original design had a serious mechanical problem: the internal cranks, as drawn, would make the wheels turn in opposite directions. Some historians think this may have been deliberate to keep the design secret, while others regard it as an error. The machine was never built in Leonardo’s lifetime. It resembles a tank in purpose and appearance, but it lacked the engine, suspension, and practical mobility of modern tanks.