A barbette is the fixed area underneath a rotating gun turret on a warship. It contains the top ends of the hoists that lift shells and cordite from below.

Before the development of turrets, barbettes were raised circular platforms on the deck, on which the guns were mounted. The barbette was protected by a ring of raised iron plates, over which the guns fired.

When applied to military aircraft, a barbette is a position on an aircraft where a gun or guns are placed in a mounting less mobile than a turret. The word is frequently used to describe the tail gunner's position in bombers.

More generally, a barbette is a gun carriage that allows a field gun to be fired over a defensive wall.