The treaty was signed on 3 July 1958 after the Soviet Union had shocked the American public with the launch of Sputnik on 4 October 1957, and the British hydrogen bomb programme had successfully tested a thermonuclear device in the Operation Grapple test on 8 November. The special relationship proved mutually beneficial, but it has never been one of equals after the World Wars since the United States was (and is) larger than Britain, both militarily and economically. Britain soon became dependent on the United States for its nuclear weapons since it lacked the resources to produce a range of designs. The treaty allowed American nuclear weapons to be supplied to Britain through Project E for use by the Royal Air Force and British Army of the Rhine.