Leonardo da Vinci’s 1487 armored vehicle resembled a tank.
The design shows a conical, turtle-like armored shell mounted on wheels. Leonardo proposed that several men inside would turn cranks connected to the wheels, allowing the vehicle to move across a battlefield while protecting its crew from enemy fire. The exterior included openings for weapons.
Leonardo prepared the design while working on military engineering projects in Renaissance Italy. It was never constructed for combat, and historians debate whether the drawing contains a deliberate mechanical flaw: the gears appear to be arranged so that the wheels would work against each other. Some interpretations suggest this may have been an error, while others suggest Leonardo wanted to conceal the design.
Calling it a tank is a modern comparison, not Leonardo’s own term. The first operational tanks appeared during the First World War, more than four centuries after his sketch. Leonardo’s vehicle nevertheless anticipated several tank features, including armor, crew protection, mobility, and onboard weapons.