Da Vinci Tank

The concept of an armoured vehicle had existed before the invention of the internal combustion engine. The fighting vehicle was one of the concepts of the revered Italian artist and polymath Leonardo da Vinci.

The armoured vehicle created by Leonardo da Vinci was designed to be put into action straight into the battlefield and scatter the enemy with its 360 degree cannons. Leonardo was in love with nature and took inspiration from the surroundings for his designs. The outer cover of the armoured vehicle was designed keeping the turtle’s shell in mind.

Early Development

Leonardo drafted the plan for the first armoured car in 1485. It is believed that he narrated his plans of creating an Armoured Car in a job application that he had sent to the Duke of Milan in the year 1482. His application stated "I can make armoured cars, safe and unassailable, which will enter the close ranks of the enemy with their artillery, and no company of soldiers is so great that they will not break through them. And behind these the infantry will be able to follow quite unharmed and without any opposition".

Leonardo designed the armoured car in the year 1487, under the patronage of Ludovico Sforza, The Duke of Milan.

Ludovico Sforza, The Duke of Milan

Ludovico Sforza, ( July 27, 1452- May 27, 1508) , the Duke of Milan (1494–1498), was a ruthless prince, diplomatist and a patron of Leonardo da Vinci and other artists.

In 1482, Leonardo moved to Milan and sent an application to Ludovico Sforza, the Duke of Milan, depicting himself as a great military engineer. Many artists, poets, and musicians had gathered in Milan and Leonardo was one of them. Leonardo was a polymath who wanted to expand his skills beyond painting and he wanted to pursue his scientific investigations. Ludovico sponsored extensive work in civil and military engineering like canals and fortifications. It is believed that he employed Leonardo da Vinci more as an engineer than as an artist as da Vinci was a polymath and could use his skills to build artificial channels useful for irrigating dry and barren land. The Duke gave an opportunity to Leonardo to be a part of various urban planning tasks.

After Leonardo da Vinci joined the court of the Duke of Milan, he was able to take on artistic work outside the court. Thereafter, he was also given the freedom by the Duke to pursue interests in military engineering.

Leonardo’s Armoured Car

Leonardo’s armoured vehicle had a conical cover that was inspired by the turtle’s shell. The shell was made of wood and metal plates that add to the thickness of the cover. The cover had slanting angels that would do a great job in deflecting enemy fire during warfare.

Design

The armoured car was designed in a manner so that it could move faster than the foot soldiers in the battlefield. The wooden cover was reinforced with metal plates which had holes through which the occupants could fire the weapons. The machine was operated by eight men, who moved cranks to turn the wheels.

It is believed that Leonardo initially thought of using horses to drive the war machine, but he dropped the idea as the horses would panic in the enclosed space.

The idea of Renaissance Warfare and military revolution is associated with swords and cannons but it is difficult to think of a giant tank driving through the battlefield, causing mass destruction with the cannonballs firing at the enemy from all possible angles.

Along with the sketch of a Scythed Chariot and machine guns, were the sketches of a tank large enough to fit eight men. The men controlled the tank's movements with two cranks that operated a series of gears.

The Death Machine

Considered to be a prototype of the modern tank, Leonardo’s Armoured Vehicle was capable of moving in any direction and was equipped with a large number of weapons. Da Vinci’s War Machine was created to intimidate the enemy and scatter the opposing forces during warfare.

In Da Vinci's vehicle there was a circular platform on which a number of light cannons were arranged. The wheels of the armoured car allowed for 360-degree range. The platform was covered by a large protective shield which was created by drawing inspiration from a turtle's shell. It consisted of heavy slanted wooden planks fitted-in with metal pieces that added to the thickness and could deflect incoming fire. On the top of the cover, there was a sighting turret that would help to coordinate the firing of the cannons and also facilitate better visibility when steering of the vehicle.

The vehicle was equipped with a large number of light cannons that were placed around the perimeter. The armoured war vehicle was loaded with cannons at every angle of its circumference to attack every single enemy without fail in the battlefield.

Had the design been developed, the armoured car would have been nothing less than a Death Machine for the enemy.

The Design was Flawed

The machine was powered by two large cranks which were operated internally by four skilled men.

The cranks that propelled the vehicle are drawn in a manner that would make the wheels spin in opposing directions and would thus prevent the deadly, turtle-shaped machine from doing anything.

According to How Stuff Works, Da Vinci intentionally sketched the design so that it would become inoperable. Nobody knows if the flaw in the design was an accident or if it was an engineering flaw.

The flaw in the design made it impossible for the vehicle to be developed practically. In the sketch, it could be clearly seen that the cannons were positioned around the perimeter of the tank to fire at the enemy from all possible angles. But the gears of the vehicle were arranged in reverse order and so the wheels would have turned in opposite directions, making the tank inoperable.

Many believe that Leonardo was a pacifist and the mistake was a conscious effort by Leonardo, which he committed keeping the security of the design in mind. He intentionally flawed the design as he did not want his ideas to be put to use by others. Others believe that he consciously committed the mistake in the drawing so that ever the design got stolen it would be futile as no one would know how to make the vehicle work. We do not have any proof of the earlier assumptions, it could simply have been a just mistake.

It was around 2010, that a group of engineers recreated Leonardo's vehicle which was based on the original design developed by him. They fixed the mistake in gearing.

The Vehicle was Heavy

Experts believe that Leonardo’s armoured car was incredibly heavy. Too heavy to move, the vehicle would have lacked the battlefield mobility that we see in the modern tanks used in military operations today.

Fate of Da Vinci’s Fighting Machine

It is believed that the armoured vehicle was designed to intimidate the enemy rather than to be used as an actual military weapon during warfare. The vehicle had an impressive size and was incredibly heavy and that would adversely affect its movement in the battlefield. The gears of the vehicle were arranged in a haphazard manner that would have made it impossible for the vehicle to move forward. Leonardo might have sabotaged his own design as he did not want the design to be misused if it ever fell in the hands of the enemy.

Leonardo da Vinci was a visionary who was way ahead of his time. During the 15th century, technology was not advanced enough to develop the design created by Leonardo. Though the tank was not seen during that era, had Leonardo’s design been developed, the world could have seen the tanks much before the world war.