Canadia inventor Gerald Bull was obsessed with the idea of building a supergun that could launch satellites into space — a spacegun — circumventing the expensive and wasteful use of rockets. In the ’60s, he worked with the Canadian and U.S. governments on supergun technology, but all research was shut down once the Vietnam War began. Determined to make his vision a reality, he sold weapons in South Africa to build up some cash, but was caught and jailed for six months. In the ’80s, Bull was tapped by the Iraqi government, and began working on Project Babylon for Saddam Hussein, which included “two full-sized Big Babylon 1000mm calibre guns and a prototype 350mm calibre gun called Baby Babylon.”
“Using nine tonnes of special supergun propellant, Big Babylon would have been theoretically capable of firing a 600kg projectile across 1,000 kilometres, putting Kuwait and Iran well within striking distance from inside Iraq. Alternatively, the gun could be used to launch a 2,000kg rocket-assisted projectile carrying a 200kg satellite.”
“Bull wasn’t ignorant to the possibility that Iraq could use his supergun technology to fire missiles, but he justified his actions by pointing out that it would be an impractical weapon, says Hall. Its size meant that it would not be possible to move the gun once it was constructed; it only pointed in one direction, was slow to fire, could be easily located and easily destroyed if anyone wished to. Everyone would know where it was, and everyone would immediately know if it had been fired from the seismic tremors it caused. The recoil force from the gun would have totalled 27,000 tonnes – equivalent to a nuclear explosion – and would have registered as a major seismic event around the world.”
While tests began on Baby Babylon, Big Babylon was never completed as Bull was soon after assassinated while entering his own apartment. Shot twice in the head and three times in the back, there were no witnesses, and while the killer was never identified, Israeli intelligence agency Mossad has been linked. Head over to the BBC to read the full story.
