Space Research Corporation - Artillery Exports

Artillery Exports

SRC was a corporation founded by Gerald Bull, after the budget for his research at Project HARP for the United States and Canadian federal governments was cut in 1967, in order to commercialize the technology of long-range artillery. Project HARP's assets were then given to the newly formed SRC. The main facility of SRC was 6,000 acres (2,400 ha), straddling the Canada – United States border between Highwater, Quebec, and North Troy, Vermont. Affiliated companies included SRCQ (SRC Quebec), SRCI, Paragon, PRB (Belgian corporation), and SRCB (SRC Belgium).

During the next decade, SRC worked for a number of governments including the People's Republic of China, Chile, Taiwan, and especially South Africa, and SRC contracted with the South African company Armscor. SRC's main product was a modification of the U.S.-standard 155 mm (6") artillery cannon, adapted like his HARP system into a slightly larger smoothbore. The result was the GC-45 howitzer ("GC" stood for "Gun, Canada"), firing either NATO-standard 155 mm rounds, or, more typically, a new shell of his own design. The new "pointy" shell, designated ERFB (for extended range full bore) offered considerably better aerodynamics than the original; it was spun by fins on the shell rather than rifling in the barrel and was supported in the gun barrel by four aerodynamic nubs allowing the middle of the shell to be elongated and thus reducing drag. The shell was spun in the same way as 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 50%, while at the same time being much more accurate. Standard NATO & US artillery of the time had a range of less than 25 km while the GC-45, ERFB combination had a range of 39 km. With the innovative base-bleed system developed in Sweden this range could be increased to 49 km without loss of accuracy.