PGM-11 Redstone

The PGM-11 Redstone was the first large American ballistic missile. A short-range ballistic missile, it was in active service with the United States Army in West Germany from June 1958 to June 1964 as part of NATO's Cold War defense of Western Europe, and it was the first American missile to carry a live nuclear warhead, in the 1958 Pacific Ocean weapons test Hardtack Teak. The Redstone was a direct descendant of the German V-2 rocket, developed primarily by a team of German rocket engineers brought to the United States after the Second World War, and it used an upgraded Rocketdyne engine that allowed it to carry its warhead and reentry vehicle to a range of about 175 miles; its prime contractor was the Chrysler Corporation. The Redstone spawned the Redstone rocket family, which holds a number of firsts in the American space program including launching the first American astronaut, and it was retired by the Army in 1964 and replaced by the solid-fueled MGM-31 Pershing.