Leonardo da Vinci designed an armored vehicle with a rotating turret and cannon openings.
The conical, covered machine was intended to protect soldiers while allowing weapons to fire outward. Its sloped armor could help deflect incoming projectiles, and the upper structure was arranged with openings for guns. Leonardo’s drawings also show a mechanism of wheels, gears, and cranks intended to move the vehicle.
The vehicle is often called Leonardo’s tank because its armored form resembles a modern tank. That label is a modern comparison, not Leonardo’s own name for a successfully deployed machine. The design had serious practical problems, including the enormous effort required to move it and the difficulty of coordinating its internal mechanisms.
Some versions of the drawing show an apparent gearing issue that would make the vehicle move in the wrong direction. Historians debate whether this was an error, deliberate sabotage, or an unfinished study.