Secrets behind the murder of Canadian engineer Gerald Bull
Who murdered Gerald Bull? The Canadian engineer became famous as the creator of modern artillery. However, his projects were much more ambitious, ranging from atmospheric research to launching satellites into space, and building weapons that were suspected to be intended for Saddam Hussein to potentially use against Israel.
6:17 PM EDT, October 6, 2024
At the turn of 1990 and 1991, an international coalition was preparing to liberate Kuwait, which was occupied by Iraq under Saddam Hussein. Planners of the "Desert Storm" operation encountered an unexpected problem: the GC-45 howitzers.
The artillery available to the Iraqi army outclassed the equipment with which major world powers—such as the United States, the United Kingdom, and France—went to war. While the American 155-mm M109 howitzer could fire over a distance of 12 miles, the Iraqi GC-45, despite having the same caliber, had a staggering advantage: it could hit targets almost 25 miles away.
The course of the "Desert Storm" operation proved that fears of Iraqi artillery were exaggerated. When aviation destroyed the Iraqi reconnaissance and command systems, the "blinded" artillery—even the world's best—proved useless. So how did the Iraqi army acquire weapons that outclassed competitors worldwide?
This was due to the cooperation that Hussein's regime established with Gerald Bull, a brilliant Canadian engineer who became known as the creator of modern artillery. Ironically, Bull's life's goal was to build a gun that would shoot not at people, but toward the stars.
From artillery to atmospheric research
Just after graduating in the 1950s, Gerald Bull worked for CARDE (Canadian Armament and Research Development Establishment) on wind tunnels, shock waves generated by flying artillery shells, and the Velvet Glove rocket. However, after a conflict with his superiors, Bull changed employers.
Bull's next project was HARP, a program focused on stratospheric studies, utilizing Martlet research rockets launched to great altitudes. Martlets released a cloud of dipoles at high altitudes, which radar could easily track, providing information about the direction and strength of winds at various heights.
Using an old naval gun with a caliber of 406 mm, Gerald Bull and his team launched increasingly sophisticated rockets higher and higher each month. In 1966, he set a record by reaching an altitude of 112 miles. Although the HARP program was discontinued due to budget cuts and changes in the Canadian government, it managed to provide invaluable data on the upper atmosphere and near space.
From atmospheric research to artillery
After the closure of the HARP program, Gerald Bull focused on weaponry. By 1973, he had modified shells for the 175-mm M107 howitzer to extend its range to 31 miles. These modified shells were delivered to Israel, and for his achievements, Congress granted the engineer American citizenship.
Despite this success, in search of funding for his work, Bull moved to Brussels and worked for anyone willing to pay. His GC-45 howitzers (and the G-5 model based on them), equipped with modified ammunition, were sent to South Africa, significantly contributing to the country's victory over the Cuban expeditionary corps sent to Angola.
Innovative artillery also went to China and Iraq, where it played an essential role in the war against Iran. Over time, the solutions used in these weapons began to be copied and developed globally. Cooperation with Iraq was not limited solely to the construction of long-range howitzers.
Bull's vision of launching satellites from a giant gun appealed to Saddam Hussein. Alongside arms purchases, the Iraqi president began financing work on guns reminiscent of the German Wonder Weapons V3—the test gun Baby Babylon and the ultimate full-scale giant named Big Babylon (plans envisioned the construction of several specimens).
It was a combo deal: Iraq funded work on Bull's space guns while simultaneously requiring him to improve Iraq's ballistic Scud missiles by increasing their range. Bull agreed to this arrangement.
Baby Babylon had a caliber of 350 mm and a barrel length of 148 feet. The test gun was completed and tested, and based on the trials, work began on its larger version. Big Babylon was to have a caliber of 1,000 mm, a barrel length of 512 feet, and a weight of over 1,600 tons. According to Bull, the giant gun was designed to launch 441-lb payloads into low Earth orbit for a fraction of the cost offered by the rocket technology available at the time.
Who killed Gerald Bull?
On March 22, 1990, Gerald Bull was assassinated—shot five times in the head and back at the doorway of his Brussels apartment. Officers who arrived at the scene found a key in the door lock and a briefcase with over $20,000 (currently approximately $44,000), which did not interest the killer.
Who murdered Gerald Bull? According to the official investigation, the engineer was shot by unknown perpetrators. However, alternative theories quickly emerged.
Iraq was blamed for his death (due to alleged misunderstandings), Iran (due to the threat posed to it by Iraqi artillery), and Israel (due to the belief that Big Babylon could be a dangerous weapon and the threat posed by Hussein's improved ballistic missiles).
This theory is detailed and analyzed by Israeli journalist and Pulitzer Prize winner Ronen Bergman. In his book, "Rise and Kill First", which describes assassinations carried out by Israeli services over the years, Bergman unequivocally points to the perpetrators.
According to his investigative journalism, the direct responsibility for Gerald Bull's death was borne by then-Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir, who purportedly approved the order for Mossad agents to kill the scientist. Did the Prime Minister of Israel indeed have any motive?
Gerald Bull's space gun
Analyses of the Big Babylon gun's potential indicate that using it as a weapon with a range of up to 621 miles was possible but extremely impractical. This impracticality stems from its large size, making aiming difficult—even if a mechanism existed to move the barrel.
Due to its dimensions, the installation would be difficult to conceal, making it a vulnerable target for air or missile attacks. Moreover, the act of firing would also be immediately detectable due to accompanying seismic shocks that unambiguously indicate the installation's coordinates. Jerusalem did not take Bull's collaboration with Hussein lightly: the real threat to Israel was not the giant gun but the improved Iraqi Scuds.
The question of potentially using the giant guns to place payloads into orbit remains unanswered. The Baby Babylon gun was destroyed shortly after the "Desert Storm" operation by a UN commission overseeing Iraq's disarmament.
The few surviving fragments of the Big Babylon gun were seized by British authorities before they could be sent to Iraq. A several-foot section of the barrel, consisting of two segments, can be viewed at the British Royal Armouries Museum.
