Doomsday Gun

Doomsday Gun was a 1994 television film produced by HBO, dramatizing the life of Canadian supergun designer Dr. Gerald Bull and his involvement in Project Babylon, Saddam Hussein's plan to build a supergun with a range of over 500 miles. It was the first television drama to deal with covert U.S. and British involvement with Saddam Hussein preceding the 1991 Gulf War, and "coolly eviscerates" the Bush and Thatcher administrations for violating the international arms embargo during Iraq's war with Iran, according to Variety.

The story is about young Gerald Bull who is fascinated with large-bore guns, inspired by Jules Verne's novel From The Earth To The Moon. The adult Dr. Gerald Bull's career as a successful large-bore gun designer takes a turn as he is defunded by the U.S. Army; he then produces weapons for China, Israel, and ultimately South Africa which results in his arrest and conviction for illegal arms dealing. After his release, Bull promotes his supergun idea to Saddam Hussein, and with funding through BCCI, begins design work on the top secret project, "Babylon". Bull solves several manufacturing challenges by forging and assembling it in sections which are bolted together by flanges, and lining the relatively soft barrel material with an alloy sleeve to reduce wear on the barrel. British and U.S. government agencies are shown to be aware of Bull's activities, but do nothing to stop him. The Israeli Mossad tries to dissuade Bull, and goes so far as to threaten his life, with no effect. As the "Baby Babylon" version of the gun is assembled and tested successfully horizontally in Iraq, Bull's second in command, Cowley, quits after a roadside run-in with Mossad agent Dov, who also shadowed Bull. The Iraqis demand an additional, 45-degree, test of the prototype gun, using threats to coerce Bull into compliance. That completed test firing results in a direct hit on a target 100 miles away, and Bull brags that the full size "Babylon" gun can fire "ten times as far." As production of the full-size sections of the gun continues in England and elsewhere, falsely documented as oil pipeline parts in order to evade export restrictions, the film depicts increasing threats to Bull's life from Hussein, and the Mossad agent Dov. As the gun nears completion, Bull, while returning home, is gunned down at his apartment, where his body is discovered by his wife.

The end text crawl states that Dr. Bull's murder was unsolved, and that the U.S. contributed over $3 billion to Iraq in the years preceding the first Gulf War. To view the video Click here