Leonardo da Vinci designed a scythed chariot with blades attached to its wheels.
His drawing shows a horse-drawn vehicle whose rotating wheels carry long blades. As the chariot moved, the blades would sweep through the space beside it, threatening infantry formations. The concept belongs to Leonardo’s broader interest in military engineering during the Renaissance.
Scythed chariots were not Leonardo’s invention in the historical sense. Ancient armies, especially those associated with the Achaemenid Persian Empire and Hellenistic kingdoms, had used similar ideas long before Leonardo. His contribution was a Renaissance redesign represented in his notebooks.
The machine was dangerous to enemies and to its own operators. Control, uneven terrain, and the risk of harming the horses made such vehicles difficult to use effectively. Leonardo’s drawing is therefore best understood as a military concept rather than proof of a successful weapon.