Seventeen weird artillery weapons show what happens when engineers push caliber, range, mobility, and explosive power far beyond ordinary limits.

From the Dardanelles Gun and Tsar Cannon to Schwerer Gustav, Atomic Annie, Davy Crockett, and Project Babylon, this video explains why each unusual artillery weapon was built, how it worked, and what problem its designers were trying to solve.

The story moves from giant bronze bombards and industrial siege mortars through pneumatic naval guns, spigot mortars, railway superguns, tracked siege weapons, multi-charge cannons, and Cold War nuclear artillery. Some reached combat. Others remained experimental systems or technological dead ends. Together, they show how artillery repeatedly became so large, specialized, or complicated that operating the weapon could become a bigger challenge than firing it.

CHAPTERS

0:00 Dardanelles Gun
2:46 Tsar Cannon
5:13 Mallet's Mortar
7:51 USS Vesuvius
10:36 Livens Projector
13:13 Paris Gun
15:58 Blacker Bombard
18:26 Karl-Gerät
20:59 Schwerer Gustav
23:32 Type 98 Mortar
26:16 Churchill AVRE Petard
28:51 Sturmtiger
31:40 V-3 Cannon
34:14 Little David
36:46 Atomic Annie
39:19 Davy Crockett
41:55 Project Babylon

Which of these 17 artillery designs is the strangest engineering idea that still made military sense?

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