---
category: Intelligence Operation
end: 1947
start: 1942
summary: The Manhattan Project was the top-secret U.S.-British-Canadian research program
  (1942-1946) that developed the first nuclear weapons under J. Robert Oppenheimer
  at Los Alamos and other facilities, culminating in the atomic bombings of Hiroshima
  and Nagasaki.
tags:
- Project
- Nuclear
- World War II
---

The [Manhattan Project](/programs/manhattan-project/) was a top-secret research and development undertaking by the [United States](/places/united-states/) with the support of the [United Kingdom](/places/united-kingdom/) and [Canada](/places/canada/) during World War II. Its primary objective was to produce the first nuclear weapons. [J. Robert Oppenheimer](/people/j-robert-oppenheimer/) was the scientific director of the project, and [John von Neumann](/people/john-von-neumann/) was also a key figure.[^1]

[^1]: Hersh, Seymour M. *The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy*. Random House, 1991. Chapter 2.