Posted on 03/06/2012 6:57:53 PM PST by U-238
During a recent trip to Yuma Proving Ground, in Arizona, I passed a unique looking artillery piece in a remote area of the installation. It has an extremely long barrel and appeared to be anchored in a concrete abutment. Having more than a passing interest in ordnance I made some inquiries as to origins and purpose of the gun.
What I had stumbled across, on that hot desert day, was one of three unique guns that had been part of a very ambitious undertaking called the “High Altitude Research Project,” or HARP. The brainchild of Jerry Bull (of “Iranian Super Gun” fame), HARP was an innovative approach to putting satellites in space. HARP started out as a joint project between the Canadian Armaments and Research and Development Establishment (CARDE) and the U.S. Army’s Ballistic Research Laboratory and Aberdeen Proving Ground to study the upper atmosphere. It later evolved into a project to economically place satellites into orbit, as well as the basis of improved and extended range artillery.
HARP consisted of two 16-inch naval guns — one welded atop of the other with reinforcing cables and stiffening bars running the length of both barrels. The barrels were affixed to a breach anchored into a heavy concrete and steel ground-mount capable of withstanding the detonation of nearly 1,000 pounds of propellant. From a firing point located in Barbados, the HARP could send a projectile, called a Martlet, to an altitude of 180 kilometers, a record that stands today. Had it not been for political infighting and inter-service rivalries, Bull would have, undoubtedly, been successful in developing a cannon-launched satellite delivery system. Fortunately, good ideas tend to stand the test of time.
(Excerpt) Read more at nationaldefensemagazine.org ...
I stumbled a little over the phrase “one of three unique guns”...
THe HARP gun in Barbados is still there
Didn't a national actor in the Middle-East known for success in sanctioning external threats shoot Bull in the head..?
Yes. Mossad. The Israelis even warned Bull not to proceed to the project in Iraq.
“The brainchild of Jerry Bull (of “Iranian Super Gun” fame)”
Actually, it was the Iraqi Super Gun. But even so, Mr. Bull is an ABSOLUTE LEGEND in the world of artillery. If we are fortunate enough to have a product of his, it makes me feel much better regarding the overall defense of this country. This many was super-human.
He did design the G5 towed howitzer for South Africa.
Yeah, I was sure that gun was Iraqi, yep.
Bull was inspired from the movie “From Earth To the Moon”
so it has been theorized. but no proof exists of exactly which actor it was. maybe the mossad delegated the hit to a subcontractor.
There was the “Baby Babylon” it was a 350mm gun.Then there was “Big Babylon”. The complete device weighed about 2,100 tonnes.
Jerry Bull was revisiting the Paris Gun?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_Gun
The gun would have offered greater ranges than the Scud variants then used by the Iraqis, and its projectiles would have been more difficult to intercept
And then, the inventor kept all of the important technical information in his head, which ultimately backfired on him.
I am sure he inspired of the “Paris Gun”. His artillery would have made the “Paris Gun” look like a toy.
I am sure he inspired by the “Paris Gun”. His artillery would have made the “Paris Gun” look like a toy.
Does it show up on Google Earth?
It would have been similar in concept to the V-3 Pressure pump.
13°4’38”N 59°28’31”W
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