Italian nuclear weapons program
NPT party | Yes |
---|
The Italian nuclear weapons program was an effort by
Background
Italian physicists, such as the
Initial US deployments
The first nuclear weapons deployed on Italian soil were two battalions
The decision by Switzerland on 23 December 1958 to
The deployment did not last long, however, and, on 5 January 1963, the United States announced that they would withdraw the Jupiter missiles as a consequence of the Cuban Missile Crisis, under an agreement with the Soviet Union that the United States would withdraw its missiles from Italy and Turkey in return for the Soviet Union withdrawing its missiles from Cuba.[14] The decision was approved by the Italian government and the missile brigade was deactivated on 1 April 1963.[15]
Multilateral Force
In the meantime, Italy explored working develop a European nuclear force within the NATO, the Multilateral Force (MLF). MLF was a concept promoted by the United States to place all NATO nuclear weapons not operated by their own services under joint control by American and European forces, with a dual-key arrangement. For the United States, the MLF was an attempt to balance the desire of other members of NATO to play a role in nuclear deterrence with their interest in bringing existing and potential Western nuclear arsenals under the umbrella of a more cohesive NATO alliance.[16] The program built on previous discussions between European nations on a collaborative nuclear program.[5] Italy, France and Germany had worked on a joint nuclear deterrent, but these were curtailed in 1958 by Charles de Gaulle's desire for an independent French deterrent.[17] The MLF was pursued by the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, and formed a fundamental part of the Nassau Agreement between the United States and the United Kingdom, and the attempted accession of the United Kingdom to the European Economic Community (EEC) in 1961.[18]
Under the MLF, the United States proposed that various NATO countries operate the UGM-27 Polaris IRBM on seaborne platforms, both nuclear submarines and surface ships. The Italian Navy proposed a nuclear powered submarine and a conversion of a cruiser. Announced in July 1959, the program paralleled similar work in the US.[19] The Navy took the light cruiser Giuseppe Garibaldi out of service and rebuilt the ship between 1957 and 1961 as a guided missile cruiser with launchers for four Polaris missiles.[20] The successful test of the missiles took place in September 1962.[21] Shortly afterwards, in December 1962, Italian Minister of Defence Giulio Andreotti officially asked the United States for assistance in developing nuclear propulsion for its fleet.[13]
The Italian government saw the growth of the movement to halt the proliferation of nuclear weapons as a major challenge to its nuclear program.[22] At the Eighteen Nation Committee on Disarmament, the Italian government argued that multilateral activity like the MLF was excluded from any agreement on non-proliferation, but found that the Soviet Union required that MLF be terminated as part of their negotiations on the Non-Proliferation Treaty, and the United States all but killed the agreement on 17 December 1964 with National Security Action Memorandum No. 322.[23]
Italy's domestic program
With the failure of its multilateral efforts, Italy looked again at creating an independent deterrent. Italy had experience with nuclear technology, with a well developed nuclear power industry with BWR, Magnox, and PWR technologies, as well as the 5MW RTS-1 'Galileo Galilei' test reactor at CAMEN (Italian: Centro Applicazioni Militari Energia Nucleare, Center for Military Applications of Nuclear Energy).[24] It also had a large number of nuclear capable aircraft, including the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter, and was developing the Panavia Tornado with nuclear strike in mind.[25]
Alfa
In 1971, the Italian Navy began an indigenous program to develop ballistic missiles called Alfa. Officially the project was termed as a development effort for a study on efficient solid-propellant rockets for civil and military applications. It was planned as a two-stage rocket and could be carried on submarines or ships.[10] Ever since 27 March 1960, when Admiral Pecori Geraldi had argued that a seaborne nuclear force was the most resistant to attack, the navy had looked for an opportunity to take on a nuclear role.[21] Alfa was 6.5 metres (21 ft) long and had a diameter of 1.37 m (4 ft 6 in). The first stage of the Alfa was 3.85 m (12.6 ft) long and contained 6 tonnes (5.9 long tons; 6.6 short tons) of solid rocket fuel. It supplied a thrust of 232 kilonewtons (52,000 lbf) for a duration of 57 seconds. It could carry a 1,000 kilograms (2,205 lb) warhead for a range of 1,600 kilometres (990 mi), placing European Russia and Moscow in range from the Adriatic Sea.[10] After the first stage motor was fired eleven times in static tests, three test missiles with inert second stages were successfully launched at Salto di Quirra in Sardinia, the last on 6 April 1976.[26]
However, the combination of high costs of over 6 billion lira and a changing political climate meant that the project was doomed.[27] In addition, there was an increasing risk of nuclear escalation outside Europe and domestic pressure for Italy to play its part in reducing the nuclear tension. These combined with pressure from the United States led to Italy abandoning its nuclear weapons program and ratifying the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons on 2 May 1975.[28]
The technological heritage of Alfa is today in light solid-propellant space launchers, like the current Vega rocket.[10] In more recent years, the country, working as part of the European Space Agency, has demonstrated the reentry and landing of a capsule called IXV.[29]
Popular attitudes to nuclear weapons
In the 1950s, the Italian population was generally considered ignorant on matters of the high politics of the recently emerged Atomic Age. While there was a strong awareness of the risk of nuclear war and a desire for disarmament, this was not widely articulated and public discourse was rare.[30] The attitude towards the basing of nuclear weapons on Italian soil was generally on political lines, with followers of Christian Democracy being positive and supporters of the Italian Communist Party being against. The position of the other parties varied,[22]
A broader movement for
Nuclear weapons in Italy since 1975
Since ratifying the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and halting its own program, Italy has continued to host nuclear weapons on its soil. The country remained part of the
- 599th US Army Artillery Group
- US Air Force 183rd Munition Support Squadron[42]
B61 nuclear bombs were also stationed in Italy.[43] It is believed that the Italian Air Force could use these weapons in case of war: in 2005, former Italian President Francesco Cossiga stated that Italy's plans of retaliation during the Cold War consisted of targeting nuclear weapons on Czechoslovakia and Hungary in case the Soviet Union waged nuclear war against NATO.[44] He acknowledged the presence of U.S. nuclear weapons in Italy, and speculated about the possible presence of British and French nuclear weapons on Italian soil.[45][46]
During the 1980s, however, there was an increasing popular movement against nuclear weaponry. At the same time as the Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp was being set up in Berkshire, England, 60,000 people marched from Perugia to Assisi against nuclear war on 27 September. The following month, between 200,000 and 300,000 people marched in Rome.[47] The movement was politically broad, attracting mainly young people, and grew rapidly. The march on 22 October 1982 attracted between half a million and one million supporters.[48] The movement received another boost in 1987 when, in the wake of the Chernobyl disaster, a series of referendums demonstrated popular opinion against nuclear power.[49] The United States Army removed their last nuclear weapons from Italy in 1992 when they withdrew the last Lance missile.[25] However, for many people, this did not go far enough. In March 2008, 67,248 Italian citizens signed a petition to declare the country a nuclear-free zone. In June, senior politicians across the political spectrum, Massimo D'Alema, Arturo Parisi, Gianfranco Fini, Giorgio La Malfa and Francesco Calogero, signed a statement in favour of disarmament.[50]
As of 2015, there were between 70 and 90 B61 nuclear bombs mod 3, mod 4 and mod 7 stored in two locations, 50 at the Aviano Air Base, and from 20 to 40 at the Ghedi Air Base.[51][52] They can be delivered by USAF General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcons of 31st Fighter Wing that are based at Aviano and Italian Panavia Tornados of 6º Stormo Alfredo Fusco that are based at Ghedi.[53][54] The Tornado fleet will potentially be replaced by Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II,[55][56] which is expected to be certified nuclear-capable with the B-61 by 2026.[57]
See also
References
Citations
- ^ Bruzzaniti 2016, p. 11.
- ^ Bruzzaniti 2016, p. 29.
- ^ Nuti 1992, pp. 225.
- ^ Bini 2017, p. 25.
- ^ a b Nuti 2017, p. 78.
- ^ Nuti 1992, p. 226.
- ^ Fadorini 2013, p. 63.
- ^ Fadorini 2013, p. 62.
- ^ Nuti 1992, p. 229.
- ^ a b c d e Wade, Mark (2017). "Alfa". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on 18 July 2016. Retrieved 5 September 2017.
- ^ a b Nuti 1992, p. 231.
- ^ a b Mariani, Antonio (2012). La 36ª Aerobrigata Interdizione Strategica: il contributo Italiano alla guerra fredda (in Italian). Rome: Aeronautica Militare, Ufficio Storico.
- ^ a b Nuti 2017, p. 79.
- ^ De Maria & Orlando 2008, p. 253.
- ^ Gianvanni, Paolo (2000). "Un ricordo della guerra fredda". JP4 Mensile di Aeronautica (in Italian). 1: 30–35.
- ^ Priest 2011, p. 259.
- ^ Evangelista 2011, p. 124.
- ^ Widén & Colman 2007, pp. 181–186.
- ^ Nuti 2016, p. 568.
- ^ Nation 2011, p. 37.
- ^ a b Nuti 1992, p. 234.
- ^ a b Evangelista 2011, p. 122.
- ^ Priest 2011, p. 266.
- ^ International Atomic Energy Agency 1971, p. 43.
- ^ a b c Meleca, Vincenzo (2015). Il potere nucleare delle Forze Armate Italiane, 1954-1992 (in Italian). Milan: Greco & Greco editori.
- ^ Alegy 2006, p. 102.
- ^ Castro, Luciano (1982). "Dossier Alfa". Aerospazio: 20–24.
- ^ Evangelista 2011, p. 125.
- ^ van den Abeelen 2017, p. 388.
- ^ Ciglioni 2017, p. 165.
- ^ Tosi & Vitale 2009, p. 134.
- ^ Nuti 2011, p. 171.
- ^ Ciglioni 2017, p. 167.
- ^ Evangelista 2011, p. 120.
- ^ Maurizi, Stefania (20 July 2017). "Gli Usa mettono il segreto sulle armi atomiche in Italia". La Repubblica (in Italian). Retrieved 8 June 2018.
- ^ Duke 1989, p. 88.
- ^ Nuti 2001, p. 40.
- ^ "Quello che i russi già sanno e gli italiani non devono sapere", IRDISP, Rome 1983, pages 6-11
- ^ Tasked to support and deploy the nuclar warheads assigned to the Lance and heavy conventional artillery battalions of the italian 3rd Missile Brigade
- ^ Tasked to support and deploy Atomic Demolition Munitions along the Italian border
- ^ Tasked to support and deploy nuclear warheads assigned to other artillery units of the Italian Army
- ^ Tasked to support the nuclear warheads assigned to the Italian Air Force 6th Fighter-Bomber Wing
- ^ "In Italia 90 bombe atomiche Usa". La Stampa (in Italian). 15 September 2007. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
- ^ "Anche l'Italia coinvolta nel riarmo nucleare da noi settanta testate - la Repubblica.it".
- ^ "Cossiga: "In Italia ci sono bombe atomiche Usa"" (in Italian). Tiscali. Archived from the original on 28 September 2015. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
- ^ Interview with Cossiga on Blu notte - Misteri italiani, episode "OSS, CIA, GLADIO, i Rapporti Segreti tra America e Italia" in 2005
- ^ Moro 2017, p. 202.
- ^ Moro 2017, p. 208.
- ^ Evangelista 2011, p. 129.
- ^ Evangelista 2011, p. 130.
- ^ Iacch, Franco (30 August 2017). "Gli Usa testano la nuova bomba nucleare che giungerà in Italia". Il Giornale (in Italian). Retrieved 8 June 2018.
- ^ Tirinnanzi, Luciano (23 April 2013). "Armi nucleari in Italia: dove, come, perché: Il Pentagono sta per investire 11 miliardi di dollari per ammodernare gli ordigni nucleari presenti in Europa e in Italia". panorama.it (in Italian). Retrieved 8 June 2018.
- ^ Kristensen & Norris 2015, p. 118.
- ^ Robertson, Patsy (22 September 2008). "Factsheet 31 Fighter Wing (USAFE)". Air Force Historical Research Agency. Archived from the original on 31 December 2013. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
- ^ Kierulf 2017, p. 64.
- ^ Nichols, Stuart & McCausland 2012, p. 341.
- ^ Kristensen & Norris 2020, p. 56.
Bibliography
- Alegy, Gregory (2006). "Il PISQ e il rilancio della tecnologia aerospaziale nel secondo dopoguerra". Rivista Aeronautica (in Italian). 5/6: 100–131.
- Bini, Elisabetta (2017). "Atoms for Peace (and War): US Forms of Influence on Italy's Civilian Nuclear Energy Programs (1946-1964)". In Bini, Elisabetta; Londero, Igor (eds.). Nuclear Italy: An International History of Italian Nuclear Policies during the Cold War. Trieste: Edizioni Università di Trieste. pp. 23–40. ISBN 978-88-8303-812-9.
- Bruzzaniti, Giuseppe (2016). Enrico Fermi: The Obedient Genius. Basel: Birkhäuser. ISBN 978-1-493-93533-8.
- Ciglioni, Laura (2017). "Italian Mass Media and the Atom in the 1960s: The Memory of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the Peaceful Atom (1963–1967)". In Bini, Elisabetta; Londero, Igor (eds.). Nuclear Italy: An International History of Italian Nuclear Policies during the Cold War. Trieste: Edizioni Università di Trieste. pp. 165–179. ISBN 978-88-8303-812-9.
- De Maria, Michelangelo; Orlando, Lucia (2008). Italy in Space: In Search of a Strategy 1957-1975. Paris: Beauchesne. ISBN 978-2-70101-518-7.
- Duke, Simon (1989). United States Military Forces and Installations in Europe. Stockholm: Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
- Evangelista, Matthew (2011). "Atomic Ambivalence: Italy's Evolving Attitude to Nuclear Weapons". In Giacomello, Giampiero; Verbeek, Bertjan (eds.). Italy's Foreign Policy in the Twenty-first Century: The New Assertiveness of an Aspiring Middle Power. Lanham: Lexington Books. pp. 115–134. ISBN 978-0-73914-868-6.
- Fadorini, Paolo (2013). "Italy". In Fadorini, Paolo (ed.). Tactical Nuclear Weapons and Euro-Atlantic Security: The Future of NATO. London: Routledge. pp. 61–74. ISBN 978-0-41563-534-9.
- International Atomic Energy Agency (1971). Power and Research Reactors in Member States. Vienna: International Atomic Energy Agency.
- Kierulf, John (2017). Disarmament under International Law. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press. ISBN 978-0-77354-822-0.
- Kristensen, Hans M.; Norris, Robert S. (2015). "US nuclear forces, 2015". Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. 71 (2): 107–119. S2CID 145260117.
- Kristensen, Hans M.; Norris, Robert S. (2020). "US nuclear forces, 2020". Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. 76 (1): 46–60. .
- Moro, Renato (2017). "Against the Euromissiles: Anti-nuclear Movements in 1980s Italy (1979–1984)". In Bini, Elisabetta; Londero, Igor (eds.). Nuclear Italy: An International History of Italian Nuclear Policies during the Cold War. Trieste: Edizioni Università di Trieste. pp. 199–211. ISBN 978-88-8303-812-9.
- Nation, R. Craig (2011). "Intra-Alliance Politics: Italian-American Relations 1946-2010". In Giacomello, Giampiero; Verbeek, Bertjan (eds.). Italy's Foreign Policy in the Twenty-first Century: The New Assertiveness of an Aspiring Middle Power. Lanham: Lexington Books. pp. 29–54. ISBN 978-0-73914-868-6.
- Nichols, Thomas M.; Stuart, Douglas T.; McCausland, Jeffrey D., eds. (2012). Tactical Nuclear Weapons and NATO. Carlisle: Strategic Studies Institute. ISBN 978-1-28822-829-4.
- Nuti, Leopoldo (1992). "Italy and the Nuclear Choices of the Atlantic Alliance, 1955–63". In Beatrice Heuser; Brian Thomas (eds.). Securing Peace in Europe, 1945–62: Thoughts for the Post-Cold War Era. New York: St. Martin's Press. pp. 222–245. ISBN 978-0-33355-002-1.
- Nuti, Leopoldo (2001). "Italian Foreign Policy in the Cold War: A Constant Search for Status". In Carbonne, Maurizio (ed.). Italy in the Post-Cold War Order: Adaptation, Bipartisanship and Visibility. Lanham: Lexington Books. ISBN 978-0-73913-711-6.
- Nuti, Leopoldo (2011). "Italy's Nuclear Choices". UNISCI Discussion Papers (25): 167–181.
- Nuti, Leopoldo (2017). "A turning point in postwar foreign policy: Italy and the NPT negotiations 1967-1968". In Popp, Roland; Horovitz, Liviu; Wenger, Andreas (eds.). Negotiating the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty: Origins of the Nuclear Order. New York: Routledge. pp. 77–96. ISBN 978-1-13869-017-2.
- Nuti, Leopoldo (2016). "Extended Deterrence and National Ambitions: Italy's Nuclear Policy, 1955–1962". Journal of Strategic Studies. 39 (4): 559–579. S2CID 156702914.
- Priest, Andrew (2011). "The President, the 'Theologians' and the Europeans: The Johnson Administration and NATO Nuclear Sharing". The International History Review. 33 (2): 257–275. S2CID 154156491.
- Tosi, Simone; Vitale, Tommaso (2009). "Explaining How Political Culture Changes: Catholic activism and the secular left in Italian peace movements" (PDF). Social Movement Studies. 8 (2): 131–147. S2CID 51784018.
- van den Abeelen, Luc (2017). Spaceplane HERMES: Europe's Dream of Independent Manned Spaceflight. Cham: Springer. ISBN 978-3-31944-470-3.
- Widén, J.J.; Colman, Jonathan (2007). "Lyndon B. Johnson, Alec Douglas-Home, Europe and the NATO Multilateral Force, 1963-64". Journal of Transatlantic Studies. 5 (2): 179–198. S2CID 143583954.