| Italian Republic | |
|---|---|
.svg) | |
| Nuclear program start date | Late 1960s (ended in 1975) |
| First nuclear weapon test | None |
| First thermonuclear weapon test | None |
| Last nuclear test | None |
| Largest yield test | None |
| Total tests | None |
| Peak stockpile | None |
| Current stockpile | None |
| Current strategic arsenal | None |
| Cumulative strategic arsenal inmegatonnage | None |
| Maximum missile range | None |
| NPT party | Yes |
TheItalian nuclear weapons program was an effort byItaly to developnuclear weapons in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Italian scientists such asEnrico Fermi andEdoardo Amaldi had been at the forefront of the development of the technology behind nuclear weapons, but the country was banned from developing the technology at the end of theSecond World War.
After abortive proposals to establish a multilateral program withNATO allies in the 1950s and 1960s, Italy launched a national nuclear weapons program. The country converted thelight cruiserGiuseppe Garibaldi and developed and tested aballistic missile calledAlfa. The program ended in 1975, upon Italy's accession to theNon-Proliferation Treaty. Currently, Italy does not produce or possess nuclear weapons, but takes part in the NATOnuclear sharing program, hostingB61 nuclear bombs at theAviano andGhedi Air Bases.
Italian physicists, such as theVia Panisperna boys led byEnrico Fermi, had been at the forefront of the development ofnuclear physics.[1] Indeed, some, like Fermi, took part in theManhattan Project and the creation of the firstnuclear weapon during theSecond World War.[2] At the end of the war, theItalian Armed Forces wished to have nuclear capability. TheItalian Army was particularly keen to acquire nuclear weapons, seeing them primarily in a tactical role.[3]
The Army was confronted with defending mountain passes, which would channel anyWarsaw Pact advance, and therefore made ideal targets for nuclear weapons. However,1947 Peace Treaty banned the country from developing its own nuclear weapons.[4] In the new geopolitical situation of the emergingCold War, Italy created a political strategy that relied on multilateralism, principally through a close relationship with the United States, membership ofNATO and greater European integration, for its defence. A similar attitude was taken for its nuclear weapons program.[5]
The first nuclear weapons deployed on Italian soil were two battalionsMGR-1 Honest John andMGM-5 Corporal missiles in September 1955,[6] In time of war, they were to be used to slow the advance of enemy forces attacking across the Austrian and Yugoslavian borders, providing the Italian Army with sufficient time for a fullmobilization. They were supported by other nuclear weapons, includingAtomic demolition munitions.[7] They were followed by 90MIM-14 Nike Herculessurface-to-air missiles withW31 warheads in 1960.[8] However, these were not Italian weapons; the United States Army maintained ownership, custody and control of all these systems.
For Italy, this was insufficient. The country argued for greater involvement, withMinister of DefencePaolo Emilio Taviani saying on 29 November 1956 that the Italian government was trying to persuade their "Allies to remove the unjustified restrictions regarding the access of NATO countries to new weapons."[9]
The decision by Switzerland on 23 December 1958 topursue a nuclear weapons program put an additional impetus on Italy.[10] Pressure was applied on the United States to provide additional nuclear weapons. On 26 March 1959, an agreement was signed under which theItalian Air Force received 30PGM-19 Jupiterintermediate range ballistic missiles (IRBMs) to operate fromGioia del Colle Air Base.[11]
The first missiles arrived on 1 April 1960.[12] This time missiles were operated by an Italian brigade, the36ª Aerobrigata,[12] and the Americans provided the warheads under adual key arrangement (Italian:doppia chiave), which led the Italian government to believe it had greater control over the deterrent, and thus more power in NATO.[13] The new missiles could be used "for the execution of NATO plans and policies in times of peace as well as war".[11]
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 theCuban Missile Crisis, under an agreement with theSoviet 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]
In the meantime, Italy explored working develop a European nuclear force within the NATO, theMultilateral 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 byCharles de Gaulle's desire for an independent French deterrent.[17] The MLF was pursued by theKennedy andJohnson administrations, and formed a fundamental part of theNassau Agreement between the United States and the United Kingdom, and the attempted accession of the United Kingdom to theEuropean Economic Community (EEC) in 1961.[18]
Under the MLF, the United States proposed that various NATO countries operate theUGM-27 Polaris IRBM on seaborne platforms, both nuclearsubmarines 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 thelight cruiserGiuseppe 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 DefenceGiulio 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 theEighteen 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]
With the failure of its multilateral efforts, Italy looked again at creating an independent deterrent. Italy had experience with nuclear technology, with a well developednuclear power industry withBWR,Magnox, andPWR 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 theLockheed F-104 Starfighter, and was developing thePanavia Tornado with nuclear strike in mind.[25]
In 1971, the Italian Navy began an indigenous program to developballistic 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 theAdriatic Sea.[10] After the first stage motor was fired eleven times in static tests, three test missiles with inert second stages were successfully launched atSalto di Quirra inSardinia, the last on 6 April 1976.[26]
However, the combination of high costs of over 6 billionlira 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 theTreaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons on 2 May 1975.[28]
The technological heritage ofAlfa is today in light solid-propellant space launchers, like the currentVega rocket.[10] In more recent years, the country, working as part of theEuropean Space Agency, has demonstrated thereentry and landing of a capsule calledIXV.[29]
In the 1950s, the Italian population was generally considered ignorant on matters of the high politics of the recently emergedAtomic 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 ofChristian Democracy being positive and supporters of theItalian Communist Party being against. The position of the other parties varied.[22]
A broader movement fornuclear disarmament, and againstnuclear weapons testing, emerged in the mid-1950s. A combination of Christian pacifists andmarxists, many of whom were not affiliated to the main political parties, collaborated in a series of publications and demonstrations.[31] At the same time, Italian physicists likeEdoardo Amaldi spoke out against the use of nuclear research in war, particularly through multinational action like thePugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs.[32] Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, programs and magazine articles on the dangers of nuclear war remained popular and the level of discussion on the issue increased.[33] The creation of an Italian nuclear deterrent was not widely supported, and when new US weapons were deployed, the government kept them as quiet as possible to avoid unleashing a backlash.[34]
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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 theNATOnuclear sharing program and has been used by theUnited States Army for their deployment of theBGM-109G Ground Launched Cruise Missile,MGM-52 Lancetactical ballistic missile andW33,W48 andW79 artillery shells.[36] The Italian Army's3rd Missile Brigade "Aquileia" was trained to use the munitions.[25]
The country has been an active participant in the program, for example, taking a lead in March 1979 in the deployment of what would become the BGM-109G ahead of the other NATO members.[37] By the early 1980s several US nuclear weapons units were deployed in Italy in support of the Italian Armed Forces, as follows:[38]
B61 nuclear bombs were also stationed in Italy.[43] It is believed that theItalian Air Force could use these weapons in case of war: in 2005, former presidentFrancesco Cossiga stated that during theCold War Italy's role in a planned retaliation consisted in strikingCzechoslovakia andHungary had theWarsaw Pact 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 theGreenham Common Women's Peace Camp was being set up inBerkshire, England, 60,000 people marched fromPerugia toAssisi 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 theChernobyl disaster, a series ofreferendums demonstrated popular opinion againstnuclear 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 anuclear-free zone. In June, senior politicians across the political spectrum,Massimo D'Alema,Arturo Parisi,Gianfranco Fini,Giorgio La Malfa andFrancesco Calogero, signed a statement in favour of disarmament.[50]
As of 2015, there were between 70 and 90B61 nuclear bombs mod 3, mod 4 and mod 7 stored in two locations, 50 at theAviano Air Base, and from 20 to 40 at theGhedi Air Base.[51][52] They can be delivered by USAFGeneral Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcons of31st Fighter Wing that are based at Aviano and ItalianPanavia Tornados of 6º Stormo Alfredo Fusco that are based at Ghedi.[53][54] The Tornado fleet will potentially be replaced byLockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II,[55][56] which is expected to be certified nuclear-capable with the B-61 by 2026.[57]
