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conventional artillery rounds with a driving band towards the base. The result was a gun that could out-range the original by as much as 30%, while at the same time being much more accurate. Standard NATO and US artillery of the time had a range of less than 25 kilometres (16 mi) while the GC-45, ERFB combination had a range of 29 kilometres (18 mi). With the innovative
303:. U.S. Customs initially considered prosecuting as many as 15 people involved but decided to indict just Bull and his partner, Rogers Gregory. Bull pleaded guilty, expecting a fine, but was angered when during 1980 he was imprisoned for four months. The effect of his guilty plea meant that the court did not hear any evidence of the suspected
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hired him as a professor. Working together with Donald
Mordell, the university's Dean of Engineering, Bull moved forward with his space gun project and requested funding from various sources. In October 1961, Bull met with Charles Murphy, the head of the Ballistic Research Laboratory, to pitch his
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into orbit using an enormous cannon, which could be significantly more cost-effective at sending objects into space than a conventional rocket. These experiments soon caught the attention of the U.S. Army's
Ballistic Research Laboratory who would later support his projects. In 1961, Bull resigned
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than the original; its spin was moderated by fins on the shell rather than only by rifling in the barrel, and the round was supported in the gun barrel by four aerodynamic nubs allowing the middle of the shell to be elongated and thus reduce drag. The shell was initially spun in the same way as
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However, in
November 1966, the Canadian government announced that it would pull all Project HARP funding after June 30, 1967. Despite Bull's attempts to resuscitate the program, the Canadian government and U.S Army withdrew their support in 1967, leading to the program's complete termination.
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complete with a land mount and surplus powder charges, a heavy-duty crane, and a $ 750,000 radar tracking system. Bull and
Mordell officially announced the HARP project as a program under McGill University's Space Research Institute at a press conference in March 1962. In 1965,
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to salvage his project and
Project HARP's assets were given to the newly formed SRC. He established an aerospace science program at Norwich University in Northfield, Vt., in the late 1960's.
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regime with gun barrels and 30,000 shells, worth more than $ 30 million. Due to the ANC support by the Soviet Union, the CIA were said to have encouraged the deal and the shipment on the MV
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211:("GC" stood for "Gun, Canada", 45 for 45-calibre long), firing either NATO-standard 155 mm M107 rounds, or, more typically, a new shell of Bull's own design.
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The company was subsequently re-incorporated in
Brussels where Bull managed it for several years. He was murdered during 1990, it is commonly conjectured by
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275:. The G5 howitzers were instrumental in securing success in Angola, although wider strategic considerations led to South Africa's eventual withdrawal.
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After the
Canadian site was abandoned, a cannon was found there measuring 172 feet (52 m) in length, surmised to be the longest in the world.
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project for a supergun and was met with overwhelming support. The U.S. Army provided Bull with substantial financial backing and two 16-inch naval
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The GC-45 work was paid for by the South
Africans, but it has been claimed that Bull did the work largely at the urging of the United States
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collusion concerning these arms exports to South Africa. As a result of the arms embargo violation, however, SRC was liquidated.
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116:, Vermont. Affiliated companies included: SRCQ (SRC Quebec); Shefford Electronics Corp (SEC of Granby, Quebec); SRCI; Paragon;
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system developed in Sweden this range could be increased to 39 kilometres (24 mi) without loss of accuracy.
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troops and Soviet artillery, it was also suggested that the CIA had encouraged the South
Africans to
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The new "pointy" shell, designated ERFB (for extended range full bore), offered considerably better
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Hayes, Lloyd T. (September 15, 1965). "McGill
Aeroballistics Test Center At Highwater, Que".
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federal governments was cut in 1967, in order to commercialize the technology of long-range
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SRC also focused on a range of artillery systems. Following the supply of arms to
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During the next decade, SRC worked for a number of governments including the
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603:. Scarborough, Ont.; Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall Canada, 1991.
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The main facility of SRC was 6,000 acres (2,400 ha), straddling the
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Bull's Eye: The Assassination and Life of Supergun Inventor Gerald Bull
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prohibited the export of arms to South Africa, Bull's SRC supplied the
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Canadian Armaments and Research Development Establishment (CARDE)
83:. Project HARP's assets were then given to the newly formed SRC.
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Tena, Starr (October 2009). "Life and Work at Space Research".
446:"Project HARP Leads to U.S.-Canada Study of Low-Orbit Program"
247:, the new guns were used near the Angolan border in 1986 when
207:- and U.S.-standard 155.4 mm (6") artillery cannon, the
163:) at Highwater, Quebec with Dr. Gerald Bull as Director.
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Arms and the Man: Dr. Gerald Bull, Iraq and the Supergun
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sponsored the Aeroballistic Laboratory (alternately the
235:(CIA) who considered South Africa as a defence against
490:"GC-45 155 mm Towed Gun-Howitzer | Military-Today.com"
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John J. Duffy; Samuel B. Hand; Ralph H. Orth (2003).
199:, and SRC contracted with the South African company
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regime, Bull was jailed and the SRC was liquidated.
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203:. SRC's main product was a modification of the
120:(Belgian corporation); and SRCB (SRC Belgium).
601:Wilderness of Mirrors: The Life of Gerald Bull
452:. Vol. 5, no. 5. May 1964. p. 5
434:. The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction.
639:Former defense companies of the United States
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595:"Gerald Bull: The Man Who Made the Supergun"
271:the country in 1975 at the beginning of the
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402:. Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from
545:"Quebec exhibit brings Bull back to light"
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134:Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM)
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67:, after the budget for his research at
140:when he formulated the idea to launch
128:In the mid-1950s, Bull was working on
515:"A Brief History of the HARP Project"
400:"A Brief History of the HARP Project"
7:
423:
421:
393:
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543:Braithwaite, Chris (June 4, 2014).
644:Defunct companies based in Vermont
428:Sterling, Bruce (September 1992).
263:government of Angola was aided by
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521:. astronautix.com. Archived from
161:McGill Aeroballistic Test Center
90:in 1977 in contravention of the
577:. New York: Times Books, 1992.
477:. Newport, Vermont. p. 11.
551:. Barton, Vermont. pp. 1B
255:of Angola, in order to assist
243:. Used in South Africa as the
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450:Army Research and Development
299:was with the co-operation of
130:Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM)
378:Vermont's Northland Journal
301:Israeli Military Industries
233:Central Intelligence Agency
106:Canada–United States border
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185:People's Republic of China
173:Space Research Corporation
57:Space Research Corporation
17:Space Research Corporation
519:Encyclopedia Astronautica
618:. Presidio Press, 1991.
345:The Vermont encyclopedia
227:South African connection
494:www.military-today.com
474:Newport Daily Express
431:Think of the Prestige
249:South Africa invaded
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614:Lowther, William.
406:on August 20, 2016
283:Although the 1977
513:Graf, Richard K.
273:Angolan Civil War
253:Portuguese colony
195:, and especially
179:Artillery exports
157:McGill University
147:McGill University
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39:Highwater, Quebec
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348:. p. 71.
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285:United Nations
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259:. Because the
239:operations in
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209:GC-45 howitzer
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599:Grant, Dale.
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549:The Chronicle
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408:. Retrieved
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361:November 24,
359:. Retrieved
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289:arms embargo
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279:Arms embargo
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216:aerodynamics
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197:South Africa
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171:created the
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88:South Africa
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69:Project HARP
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45:Jay, Vermont
32:Headquarters
251:the former
245:G5 howitzer
169:Gerald Bull
152:gun barrels
65:Gerald Bull
63:founded by
61:corporation
26:Gerald Bull
633:Categories
568:References
529:2013-08-14
499:2018-07-18
297:Tugelaland
287:mandatory
221:base-bleed
142:satellites
124:Background
590:Frontline
384:(7): 4–5.
329:Footnotes
293:apartheid
110:Highwater
99:apartheid
81:artillery
555:June 13,
108:between
77:Canadian
71:for the
41:, Canada
261:Marxist
201:Armscor
97:on the
95:embargo
22:Founder
622:
607:
581:
352:
312:MOSSAD
269:invade
241:Angola
237:Soviet
193:Taiwan
59:was a
488:ARG.
456:6 Jun
265:Cuban
257:UNITA
189:Chile
620:ISBN
605:ISBN
579:ISBN
557:2014
458:2023
412:2020
363:2008
350:ISBN
205:NATO
132:and
75:and
118:PRB
114:Jay
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420:^
390:^
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191:,
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92:UN
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382:8
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