Redstone
Forerunner of the ICBM
Weapon Specifications
Note that the relationship between explosive power and destruction is not linear—a weapon’s destructive effects grow far more slowly than its explosive power.
Explosive Power
3.75 megatons
Hiroshima Equivalent Factor
250x
Dimensions
69.3 ft. x 5.83 inches
Weight
61,207 lbs.
Range
201 miles
Year(s)
1958–1964
Purpose
A modern version of the Nazi V2 rocket
NukeMap
Simulated destruction of a Redstone missile at the Redstone Arsenal, in Alabama. Click on the map to change parameters.
Videos
These curated videos provide additional context for this weapon — showing test footage, deployment scenes, technical explanations, interviews, or other historical material, allowing viewers to go deeper into the weapon’s design, use, and place in nuclear history.
Further Reading
- Wikipedia, Astronautix, Missilery.info
- Jim Ryan, who worked with Redstone missiles while in the Army, has built a web page telling of his first-hand experiences and well as providing extensive links related to the Redstone.
- A profile of the 40th Artillery Group (Redstone) and the 46th Artillery Group (Redstone)–the pages features extensive commentary from readers who worked with the missile.
- AMCOM has the Redstone development timeline.
- A detailed technical page on the Redstone, including cutaway drawings and links to subcomponents.
- John Uri at NASA tells of the first Redstone launch (from Cape Canaveral) and highlights the missile’s importance in space missile development.
- NASA’s own web page looks at the Mercury-Redstone space launch missile, a variant of the ICBM.
- “The History of the Redstone Missile System” by John W. Bullard, published by the Army Missile Command in 1965.
- “Old Reliable: The Story of the Redstone,” is a non-technical history of the Redstone by Andrew J. LePage.
- The Redstone Arsenal still exists and has its own newspaper, the Redstone Rocket.
- There’s a strange phenomenon where military museums, in many cases, will fail to mention on their informational signs that the weapon on display is a nuclear weapon. Here is that same phenomenon in this 1962 article in Stars and Stripes on the Redstone.