What Leonardo da Vinci war machine used several guns arranged on a rotating platform?

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Leonardo da Vinci designed a 33-barrel organ, a multi-barrel gun arranged on a rotating platform.

The weapon placed 33 small cannons in three rows on a triangular frame. The frame could be rotated so one row was aimed while another cooled or was reloaded. The arrangement was intended to improve the practical firing rate of a group of guns, rather than relying on one barrel to fire repeatedly.

The name organ gun comes from the visual resemblance between its parallel barrels and the pipes of a musical organ. It was not a musical instrument. Leonardo's version belongs to his military studies and remained a design rather than a documented battlefield weapon used by him.

The 33-barrel organ is sometimes confused with Leonardo's other military sketches, including his giant crossbow and armored vehicle. Those designs had different functions: the crossbow launched a large bolt, while the armored vehicle carried cannons behind protective plates.

Source: Wikipedia · fact-checked Oct. 2026

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