In this “limited distribution” message, George Ball informed Ambassador Reinhardt of the developing plans to deploy three Polaris boats in the Mediterranean with the missiles on station by April 1. Polaris would supersede the less effective Jupiters. The Ambassador should seek agreement with the Italian Government to take the “necessary steps” to dismantle the two Jupiter squadrons. The Italians “may be quite willing” to move in this direction, Rusk suggested, having already shown they recognized the value of replacing Jupiters with Polaris. Reinhard should advise the Italians that the U.S. government was treating the matter with “great secrecy” and was making a parallel approach to Ankara.
 
The Italians would not be surprised by this initiative in light of Andreotti-McNamara discussions at the recent NATO meeting, which also covered U.S. interest in modernizing tactical nuclear delivery systems (Sergeant for Corporal missiles). U.S. views would also be repeated to Fanfani when he visited Washington, D.C.

The day before, and probably as a related move, President Kennedy invited Italian Prime Minister Amintore Fanfani for talks in Washington. During mid-December, Fanfani had expressed interest in speaking with Kennedy about the world situation, and a meeting would provide an opportunity for the President to secure a commitment on the Jupiter issue.

Discussion with Sir Malcolm Rifkind, former Defense Secretary and Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom, about the 1990s and the new relationship that formed after the Cold War.

Untied States special representative for Arms Control, Non-Proliferation, and Disarmament.

The document presents NPG's decisions about the topics recently discussed at a meeting at the level of Ministers of Defense just concluded (Ankara, 28th-29th September 1967). The topics addressed were: ADM, tactical nuclear weapons, ABM, national participation in the military planning with regards to nuclear issues.

The document reports the evolution of the meeting. Italy was there represented by the new Minister of Defense Tremelloni, the Chief of Staff Aloia, the diplomat Alessandrini (RICA) and others. Topics discussed: possible use of ADM; possible use of tactical nuclear weapons; ABM; Italian participation in military nuclear planning; information about the nuclear weapons deployed in NATO countries. Aloia believes that the discussion was fruitful, keeping in mind the complexity of the nuclear issues, that have just recently been able to count on permanent bodies appropriate to deal with them at a political level. France's negative behavior caused a postponement of the discussion about many military-political topics in the last years.

The report describes the second meeting of the Nuclear Planning Working Group at the level of Ministers of Defense, during which a discussion about the planning, the use and the political control of tactical nuclear weapons has taken place. The document analyzes the SACEUR's position, the data related to the opposing armed forces existing in the European theater; the possible hypothesis of local conflicts and the problems related to the various scenarios. The London meeting was "open-ended", without leading to any concrete decision, and the topic appeared more complex than expected. The document observes that within the NATO there are diverging opinions on these matters.

Italian Embassy in Bonn reports German reactions to the decisions taken at the Nuclear Planning Group meeting in Monterey.

Ambassador Petrignani compiles the US Department of State views on the Nuclear Planning Group meeting in Monterey, and discusses their potential implications for NATO policy.

Correspondence between the Foreign Minister Forlani and Minister of Defense Ruffini regarding modernization of NATO's nuclear capabilities, including technical and military aspects, and political implications.

Summary of the 13th NPG meeting in Ankara in May 1973. Italian Minister of Defense, Tanassi, raises the issue of reviewing the process of launching nuclear weapons in order to secure the potential military and political advantages.