[1] The GC-45's general design followed several decades of work by Bull with fin-stabilized artillery shells, starting at the Canadian Armament Research and Development Establishment (CARDE) and later at Project HARP.

In these efforts accuracy was not a huge concern, the objective was muzzle velocity, and the test articles were finned darts representing missiles, a low-cost alternative to wind tunnels.

The resulting Extended Range, Full Bore (ERFB) ammunition was key to SRC's designs: a "pointy" looking shell with much lower drag at supersonic speeds.

The gun designed to fire it had a 23,000 cm3 (1,400 cu in) chamber, a 45-calibre rifled barrel with 1/20 right hand twist fitted with a conventional muzzle brake.

Bull, meanwhile, started production of $30 million worth of rounds, shipping them via Spain to avoid the international arms embargo against South Africa.

At first, the U.S. chose to overlook Bull's actions and, according to him, the Central Intelligence Agency actively mediated the deal between Space Research and the South Africans.

[5] However, when the Carter administration joined the international efforts to sanction South Africa's apartheid government, Bull was arrested by U.S. Customs agents in 1980.

Noricum, the arms division of the Austrian steel company Voest-Alpine, purchased the design rights to the GC-45 after SRC moved to Europe.

They made a number of detail changes to improve mass production, resulting in the GHN-45 (Gun, Howitzer, Noricum), which was offered in a variety of options like the APU and fire control systems.

Air strikes had disrupted the Iraqi command and control facilities, and because most of their gun tractors had been withdrawn to serve with logistics units in an attempt to re-supply the front line troops, they were unable to withdraw when under fire.

[citation needed] Immobile and unsupported, the majority of the guns were destroyed at their positions either by air strikes or Multiple Launch Rocket Systems (MLRS) counter-battery fire.

The increase in projectile weight gave the new weapon a range of over 50,000 meters with normal ERFB-BB ammunition, making it one of the longest-range artillery pieces in the world.

Denel also used the basic ERFB ammunition concept to develop a 105 mm gun, the G7 howitzer, which allows artillery to be downsized to improve mobility.

Bharat Forge, an Indian firm of Kalyani Group, has recently purchased Noricum and brought the entire manufacturing workshop to India.