What type of vehicle did Leonardo da Vinci design with an angled armored body?

Leonardo da Vinci designed an armored fighting vehicle with an angled protective body.

The vehicle appears in a drawing from the 1480s and is often called Leonardo’s fighting vehicle or tank. Its conical, sloped cover was intended to deflect incoming projectiles. The design also included a platform for weapons and space inside for men to operate the mechanism.

Leonardo’s notes describe a vehicle moved by cranks connected to wheels. The drawing is sometimes said to contain an intentional error because the suggested gearing would make the wheels turn in opposite directions. Historians debate whether this was a mistake, a drafting issue or a deliberate safeguard against unauthorized construction; the evidence does not establish one certain explanation.

Calling it a modern tank would also be misleading. It had no engine, rotating turret or tracked chassis. Its importance is that it combined armor, mobility and concentrated firepower in one vehicle concept centuries before motorized armored warfare. Reconstructions have shown that modified versions can move, but they do not prove that Leonardo’s original machine was fully practical.