Gerald Bull

Gerald Vincent Bull (March 8, 1928 - March 22, 1990) was an engineer who many consider to have developed long range artillery beyond what anyone else has accomplished. He was a driven man, who moved from project to project always chasing his dream of launching a satellite using a huge artillery piece. To this end he designed the Project Babylon "supergun" for the Iraqi government, during which he was killed (allegedly by Israeli Mossad agents) outside his home in Brussels, Belgium.

European Poudreries Reunies de Belgique

Now even more embittered he left Canada and moved to Brussels, where a subsidiary of SRC called European Poudreries Reunies de Belgique was based. He soon secured work with the Chinese, and then Iraq. He designed two artillery pieces for the Iraqis: the 210 mm Al Fao; and the 155 mm Majnoonan, an updated version of the G2. The guns were built and sold through Austria.

Related Topics:
Brussels - Chinese - Iraq - Austria

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At this point Bull convinced the Iraqis that they would never be a real power without the capability for space launches. He offered to build a cannon capable of such launches, basically an even larger version of the original HARP design. Saddam Hussein was interested, and work started on "Project Babylon".

Related Topics:
Saddam Hussein - Project Babylon

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A smaller 45 metre, 350 mm calibre gun was completed for testing purposes, and Bull then started work on the "real" PC-2 machine, a gun that was 150 metres long, weighed 2100 tonnes, with a bore of one metre (three feet). It was to be capable of placing a 2000 kg projectile into orbit. However at this point the Iraqis told Bull they would only go ahead with the project if he would also help with development of their longer ranged Scud-based missile project. Bull, never the politician, agreed.

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Construction of the individual sections of the new gun started in England at Matrix Churchill and also in Spain, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. Meanwhile Bull worked on the Scud project, making calculations for the new nose-cone needed for the higher re-entry speeds and temperatures the missile would face. At this point someone started "warning" him to stop working on the missiles; over a period of a few months his apartment was broken into several times but nothing was stolen. He nevertheless continued to work on the project, and in March 1990 he was shot five times in the back of the neck while opening his door.

Related Topics:
England - Matrix Churchill - Spain - Netherlands - Switzerland - March - 1990

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The most common theory is that the Israeli Mossad was responsible, and Mossad representatives have uncharacteristically all but claimed responsibility for his murder. Others, including Bull's son, believe that the Mossad is taking credit for an act they did not commit to scare off others who may try to help enemy regimes. The alternative theory is that Bull was killed by the CIA. There are some reports that Bull was demanding both a presidential pardon and money from the CIA or he would disclose all he knew about illegal CIA activities in South Africa. Unwilling to be extorted, it is claimed that the CIA thus killed Bull. A fictionalised version of this story is in the movie Doomsday Gun.

Related Topics:
CIA - South Africa

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The supergun project was stopped when its parts were seized by Customs in the United Kingdom in November 1990, and most of Bull's staff returned to Canada. The smaller test gun was later broken up after the Gulf War.

Related Topics:
Customs - United Kingdom - November - 1990 - Canada - Gulf War

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