Who led the Manhattan Project's military and scientific work?

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U.S. hydrogen bomb test in the Marshall Islands — nuclear weapon A test of a U.S. thermonuclear weapon (hydrogen bomb) at Enewetak atoll in the Marshall Islands, November 1, 1952.

The Manhattan Project was a massive undertaking that required distinct leadership for its military and scientific components.

Brig. Gen. Leslie Richard Groves was placed in charge of all military and engineering activities related to the project starting in September 1942. His role involved overseeing the construction of the vast array of facilities, laboratories, and pilot plants necessary for the development of atomic weapons.12

The scientific work was directed by J. Robert Oppenheimer, who served as the director of the laboratory at Los Alamos in New Mexico. It was at this facility that the design and development of the atomic bomb took place under his leadership.13