What kind of cannon did Leonardo da Vinci design with many barrels arranged together?

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Leonardo da Vinci designed a multi-barrel cannon that grouped numerous small barrels together to fire repeated volleys.

The concept is often described as a 33-barrel organ because the barrels were arranged in a fan-like formation resembling the pipes of an organ. The arrangement was intended to reduce the delay between shots: one row could fire while another was being loaded or aimed. It was a theoretical military design rather than a confirmed mass-produced weapon.

This device is distinct from a single-barrel cannon and from later machine guns. Its many barrels increased firepower, but reloading, transport, recoil, and coordination would have made practical operation difficult with Renaissance technology.

Source: Wikipedia · fact-checked Oct. 2026

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