The US Army has decided to end its research to reinitiate the development of an SLRC supergun (long-range strategic gun) started in the 1970s by Gerald Bull, here in Highwater in the Eastern Townships. The relaunch of the project almost four years ago was however then considered a priority by the U.S. Army.
Bull was killed in Brussels in 1990 – presumably by the Mossad – while developing the biggest cannon in history for Saddam Hussein's Iraq, which the media called the "Doomsday Cannon". .
It was believed that the idea of a supergun had been completely overtaken by missile technology until, in the fall of 2018, the Pentagon announced that it was relaunching the development of superguns on an accelerated basis.
Supercanons: US Navy contre US Army
American strategists believed that giant airborne cannons with 1,850 km range were the most practical and economical way to challenge Beijing's dominance in the South China Sea, where the Chinese have created military bases on artificial islands with contested sovereignty. No need to maintain an extremely expensive and vulnerable naval force of aircraft carriers with escort ships. The superguns could have been deployed in the Philippines or on the territory of other American allies in the region.
But the US Navy absolutely did not want the military to play in its toes. Developing and deploying superguns meant less money for his ships. The Pentagon agreed with the Navy.
Ukrainian war and superguns
In hearings before a congressional committee, a Pentagon representative explained to elected officials that the decision was made to "eliminate redundancies" and "ensure that we use taxpayers' money effectively", noting that the continuation of the project could have cost billions of dollars. The army should have created entirely new units and an organizational infrastructure to integrate them.
The decisive role currently played by long-range artillery in the Ukrainian war could perhaps lead the U.S. Army to try to convince the Pentagon to reconsider its decision. SLRC superguns deployed in Germany could hit targets in the Moscow region with GPS-guided invulnerable shells.
