Editing Project HARP (section)

=== Construction ===
In 1962, Bull and Mordell established a McGill University research station on [[Barbados]] (then still a British colony and part of the [[West Indies Federation]]) as HARP's main base of operations for its 16-inch super gun.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":9">{{Cite web|url=https://weathermodificationhistory.com/project-high-altitude-research-program-harp-cannons-launch-chemical-payloads-space/|title=Project High Altitude Research Program (HARP) Cannons Launch Chemical Payloads Into Space|date=June 1965|website=Weather Modification History|access-date=February 11, 2020}}</ref> The site location was first suggested by Mordell, who believed that a launch site closer to the [[equator]] would allow the projectile to procure extra velocity from the Earth's rotation to reach higher altitudes. In addition, the site's close proximity to the Atlantic Ocean made for the safe impact of re-entry projectiles.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":3" /> As a result of McGill University's close connections with the island's [[Democratic Labour Party (Barbados)|Democratic Labour Party]], Bull met with the Barbados Prime Minister [[Errol Barrow]] to arrange the construction of a firing site at [[Foul Bay, Barbados|Foul Bay]], St. Philip.<ref name=":10">{{Cite web|url=https://www.barbadospocketguide.com/our-island-barbados/military/harp-gun.html|title=High Altitude Research Project (HARP Gun)|website=Barbados Pocket Guide|access-date=February 11, 2020}}</ref><ref name=":11">{{Cite book|last=Bull|first=Gerald|title=Paris Kanonen - The Paris Guns (Wilhelmgeschütze) and Project HARP (Wehrtechnik und Wissenschaftliche Waffenkunde)|publisher=E. S. Mittler & Sohn|date=May 1, 1991|isbn=978-3813203042|location=Hamburg, Germany|pages=144–234}}</ref> HARP reportedly received enthusiastic support from the Barbados government due to expectations that the island nation would become heavily involved in space exploration research.<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":9" />

The installation of the 16-inch gun began at the newly established High Altitude Research Facility in April 1962. A gun pit was dug into the island's coral base, and a concrete emplacement was built on a plateau so that the gun barrel could stand vertically. The 16-inch naval gun barrels provided by the U.S. Army served as the barrels of the HARP gun. They had to be transported to the site on the U.S. Army landing ship, the [[John U. D. Page#Ships|Lieutenant Colonel John D. Page]], with the [[Transportation Corps|U.S. Army Transportation Corps]] assistance, the [[U.S. Army Research Office]], and the Office of the Chief of Research and Development.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":9" /><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Murphy|first1=Charles|last2=Bull|first2=Gerald|date=1968|title=Gun-launched probes over Barbados|journal=Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society|volume=49|issue=6|pages=640–644|doi=10.1175/1520-0477-49.6.640|bibcode=1968BAMS...49..640M|doi-access=free}}</ref> Hundreds of people from Barbados were employed to transport the two 140-ton gun tubes from the coast to the designated emplacement 2{{frac|1|2}} miles from the beach using a temporary purpose-built railway.<ref name=":9" /><ref name=":10" /> By late 1962, the HARP 16-inch gun was set up, and construction on workshops, storage buildings, radar installations, and other facilities neared completion.<ref name=":3" /> Around this time, the U.S. Army Research Office increased its financial support of the project to $250,000 per year.<ref name=":11" /> The first test shot from the 16-inch gun on Barbados was fired on January 20, 1963, marking the first time that a gun of this caliber was fired at a near-vertical angle. The 315&nbsp;kg test slug reached an altitude of 3000 meters with a flight time of about 58 seconds at a launch velocity of 1,000&nbsp;m/s before coming down a kilometer off-shore.<ref name=":3" />