Leonardo da Vinci designed an armored tank as a covered, circular fighting machine powered by crews.
His drawing, usually dated to about 1487, shows a conical armored shell mounted on wheels. Inside, men would turn cranks connected to the wheels, while guns projected through openings around the vehicle. The design was intended to move toward an enemy while protecting its occupants from missiles.
The machine is often called Leonardo’s fighting vehicle rather than a modern tank. It was never built or used in Renaissance warfare, and its practical operation is debated. A commonly repeated claim says a deliberate gear mistake prevented the vehicle from working; historians generally treat that explanation cautiously because the drawing may contain an error, an adjustment, or an incomplete design.
Leonardo’s concept predates the tracked tanks used in the First World War by more than four centuries. It is therefore an important example of an armored-vehicle idea, but not evidence that he built a working tank.