It was the first US missile to carry a live nuclear warhead, in the 1958 Pacific Ocean weapons test Hardtack Teak.

The design used an upgraded engine from Rocketdyne that allowed the missile to carry the 6,900 lb (3,100 kg) W39 and its reentry vehicle to a range of about 175 miles (282 km).

Following this partial success, the second test was conducted on 27 January 1954, this time without a hitch as the missile flew 55 miles (89 km).

The third Redstone flight on 5 May was a total loss as the engine cut off one second after launch, causing the rocket to fall back on the pad and explode.

The Redstone program proved to be a bone of contention between the Army and Air Force due to their different ideas of nuclear warfare.

[citation needed] The Army favored using small warheads on mobile missiles as tactical battlefield weapons while the Air Force, which was responsible for the ICBM program, wanted large trans-continental missiles that could strike Soviet targets and rapidly cripple the USSR's infrastructure and ability to wage war.

With the arrival of newer solid-fueled missiles that could be stored and not require fueling before launch, Redstone was rendered obsolete and production ended in 1961.

The missile body was separated from the thrust unit 20–30 seconds after the termination of powered flight, as determined by the preset range to target.

In 1955, the Jupiter-C rocket (not to be confused with the later, unrelated Jupiter IRBM) was developed as an enhanced Redstone for atmospheric and reentry vehicle tests.

From 1966 to 1967, a series of surplus modified Redstones called Spartas were launched from Woomera, South Australia, as part of a joint U.S.–United Kingdom–Australian research program aimed at understanding re-entry phenomena.