What weapon did Leonardo da Vinci design as a chariot fitted with rotating blades?

Leonardo da Vinci designed a scythed chariot fitted with rotating blades intended to cut through enemy formations.

The concept belongs to Leonardo’s military studies and combines a horse-drawn chariot with long blades mounted on a rotating mechanism. As the vehicle moved, the blades were meant to sweep around it, making the machine dangerous to soldiers nearby. Leonardo’s design reflects Renaissance fascination with adapting ancient and imagined weapons.

Scythed chariots were not a uniquely Leonardo invention. Ancient armies, including forces associated with Persia and the Hellenistic world, used or described chariots with blades attached to their axles. Leonardo’s version is a later mechanical design with a more elaborate rotating arrangement.

The drawing is evidence of invention and military imagination, not proof of successful battlefield use. It also differs from Leonardo’s armored vehicle, which relied on protective covering and gun openings rather than blades.