What Leonardo da Vinci military vehicle was covered with protective metal plates?

Leonardo da Vinci’s armored vehicle was a conical, covered machine intended to protect soldiers while moving across a battlefield.

Leonardo designed it in the late fifteenth century, probably for the Duke of Milan, Ludovico Sforza. The vehicle had sloping metal plates that could deflect attacks and a circular arrangement of light cannons around its perimeter. Cranks and gears were intended to drive the wheels, allowing a crew inside to propel it.

The design is often called Leonardo’s tank, but it was not a modern tank. It lacked an engine, suspension, communications, and a practical method for carrying large amounts of ammunition. Some versions of the drawing also appear to contain a gearing problem that would make the machine move backward unless corrected.

Even so, the vehicle shows Leonardo combining armor, mobility, and concentrated firepower. Its low, rounded form and protected crew compartment anticipate features later associated with armored fighting vehicles, although the concept was never deployed in Renaissance warfare.