The 3rd Missile Brigade "Aquileia" () was an artillery brigade of the Italian Army active between 1959 and 1991. The brigade was stationed in North-Eastern Italy and armed with missile and artillery systems capable of firing tactical nuclear weapons as part of Italy's participation in NATOs nuclear sharing programme. During peacetime the brigade fell under command of the Italian V Army Corps, but during wartime the brigade would have been subordinate to NATOs Allied Land Forces Southern Europe (LANDSOUTH) command in Verona. After the end of the Cold War the brigade was disbanded and its weapon systems retired.
History In the early 1950s NATO introduced tactical nuclear weapons to counter the Warsaw Pact superiority in conventional weapon systems. On 20 October 1954 Italy and the US signed a series of secret agreements regulating the nuclear defence of Italy:
the Atomic Stockpile Agreement discussing the introduction and storage within Italy, custody, security, safety and release of weapons, as well as cost sharing. the Atomic Cooperation Agreement about the "Exchange of Atomic information useful for mutual Defence Purposes". the Service-Level Agreement between the US and Italian militaries regarding technical details about the implementation of the government-to-government stockpile agreement, with details about where the nuclear weapons would be stored and the command structure for their use, as well as joint and individual responsibilities for their storage.
Italy and the United States of America had also signed a bilateral military agreement in 1954, which allowed the American Forces leaving Austria after the signing of the Austrian State Treaty in 1955 to use bases in Italy. At the end of 1955 10,000 US troops left Austria and joined the US Southern European Task Force (SETAF) in Italy. SETAF included two nuclear armed artillery battalions, whose equipment was handed over to the Italian Army when the SETAF was reduced in size and most of its troops returned to the continental USA.
After all the details had been worked out 44 Italian soldiers of the 3rd Heavy Artillery Regiment began their training at the US Army base of the 77th Field Artillery Battalion in Vicenza on 10 January 1959. Initially the only delivery system was the MGR-1 Honest John nuclear-capable surface-to-surface missile and on 25 February 1959 the Italians launched their first missile from the Adriatic coastal town of Bibione.
On 1 March 1959 the 3rd Heavy Artillery Regiment activated two rocket launchers groups armed with Honest John missile systems. On 1 October 1959 the regiment's names was changed to 3rd Heavy Artillery Regiment (Missile) and it became the first unit of the newly raised III Missile Brigade in Vicenza. The regiment added a third rocket launchers group on 15 November 1960 and a fourth rocket launchers group on 15 November 1962. Each group fielded four Honest John launch systems and were based in Elvas, Oderzo, Codogné and Portogruaro.
Since its inception the brigade was augmented with further units and by 1964 the brigade consisted of the following units:
III Missile Brigade, in Vicenza 3rd Missile Artillery Regiment, in Portogruaro I Missile Artillery Group, in Codogné II Missile Artillery Group, in Portogruaro III Missile Artillery Group, in Oderzo IV Missile Artillery Group, in Elvas XIII Target Acquisition Group, in Verona XIV Heavy Artillery Group, in Trento armed with M115 203mm howitzers XV Heavy Artillery Group, in Verona armed with M115 203mm howitzers XXI Engineer Battalion, in Vicenza XIII Logistic Battalion, in Vicenza 13th Signal Company, in Portogruaro 4x infantry companies guarding the nuclear ammunition storage sites in Codogné, Portogruaro, Oderzo and Elvas
The units of the brigade were stationed in the North-east of Italy behind the defensive lines of the IV Army Corps and V Army Corps. In case the frontline corps would have failed to hold a Warsaw Pact attack, the III Missile Brigade was tasked to use its tactical nuclear weapons to destroy enemy troop concentrations and to turn the Puster, Canal and Piave valleys into nuclear wastelands to deny the enemy passage.
1975 reform
In summer 1973 the 3rd Missile Artillery Regiment began the transition from Honest John to the more accurate and powerful MGM-52 Lance missile system. In summer 1974 troops from the 3rd Missile Artillery Regiment visited the US Army Field Artillery School in Fort Sill in Oklahoma to train with the new missile system. The training culminated with the launch of six Lance missiles on 5 and 6 December 1974 at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. After the troops' return to Italy the 3rd Missile Artillery Regiment began to phase out its Honest John systems. As the MGM-52 Lance was more accurate, far reaching and powerful than the MGR-1 Honest John the 3rd Missile Artillery Regiment was disbanded on 1 January 1975 and replaced by the 3rd Missile Artillery Group "Volturno". The Volturno fielded three missile batteries, each armed with two M-752 missile launchers.
On 27 July 1975 the 3rd Missile Artillery Group "Volturno" fired the first Lance missiles on Italian soil from the Salto di Quirra military firing range at Perdasdefogu in Sardinia. After the successful launch the group was declared operational. The same year the Italian army abolished the regimental level, moved from Roman numerals to Arabic numerals and awarded new honorific titles to units. Therefore, the brigade became the 3rd Missile Brigade "Aquileia" and its new composition at the end of 1977 was as follows:
3rd Missile Brigade "Aquileia" / 5th Army Corps Artillery Command, in Portogruaro Command Unit "Aquileia", in Portogruaro 27th Heavy Self-propelled Artillery Regiment, in Udine Command and Services Battery, in Udine I 175/60 Self-propelled Group, in Udine (M107 175mm self-propelled guns) II 175/60 Self-propelled Group, in Udine (M107 175mm self-propelled guns) 1st Heavy Artillery Group "Adige", in Elvas Command and Services Battery, in Elvas 7th Battery, in Elvas (M115 203mm towed howitzers, ammunition included W33 nuclear artillery shells) 8th Battery, in Elvas (M115 203mm towed howitzers, ammunition included W33 nuclear artillery shells) 4th Fusiliers Company, in Elvas 3rd Missile Artillery Group "Volturno", in Oderzo Command Battery, in Oderzo 1st Missile Battery, in Oderzo (MGM-52 Lance surface-to-surface missiles, ammunition included W70 nuclear warheads) 2nd Missile Battery, in Codogné (MGM-52 Lance surface-to-surface missiles, ammunition included W70 nuclear warheads) 3rd Missile Battery, in Codogné (MGM-52 Lance surface-to-surface missiles, ammunition included W70 nuclear warheads) 1st Fusiliers Company, in Codogné 3rd Fusiliers Company, in Oderzo Services Battery, in Oderzo 9th Heavy Artillery Group "Rovigo", in Verona Command and Services Battery, in Verona 1st Battery, in Verona (M115 203mm towed howitzers, ammunition included W33 nuclear artillery shells) 2nd Battery, in Verona (M115 203mm towed howitzers, ammunition included W33 nuclear artillery shells) 13th Signal Battalion "Mauria", in Portogruaro 21st Engineer Battalion "Timavo", in Vicenza Command and Park Company, in Vicenza 1st Engineer Company, in Vicenza 2nd Engineer Company, in Vicenza 2nd Fusiliers Company, in Vicenza 41st Artillery Specialists Group "Cordenons", in Casarsa della Delizia Command and Services Battery, in Casarsa della Delizia 1st Target Acquisition Battery, in Casarsa della Delizia 2nd Target Acquisition Battery (Reserve), in Casarsa della Delizia 3rd Target Acquisition Battery (Reserve), in Casarsa della Delizia Unmanned Aircraft Battery, in Casarsa della Delizia 92nd Infantry Battalion "Basilicata" (Recruits Training), in Portogruaro 13th Target Acquisition Group "Aquileia", in Verona Command and Services Battery Reconnaissance and Target Acquisition Battery Unmanned Aircraft Battery (Canadair CL-89B "Midge" drones) Air Component, at Boscomantico Air Base 398th Light Airplanes Squadron (SM.1019A planes) 598th Multirole Helicopters Squadron (AB-204B helicopters) Light Airplanes Maintenance Squadron XIII Resupply, Repairs, Recovery Unit, in Vicenza (reorganized on 1 January 1982 as 13th Maneuver Logistic Battalion and moved to Portogruaro)
At the time the brigade fielded around 5,500 men.
Strategic plans in case of war After the 1975 reform the brigade's heavy artillery groups had each one valley they were tasked to defend with nuclear fire:
the 1st Heavy Artillery Group "Adige" was to defend the Puster in case the Alpine Brigade "Tridentina" would have failed to hold it. Additionally the group would have covered the Austrian Inn and Wipp valleys in case NATO's Central Army Group in Southern Germany would have failed to keep Warsaw Pact forces from entering the two aforementioned valleys. the 9th Heavy Artillery Group "Rovigo" was to defend the Piave valley in case the Alpine Brigade "Cadore" would have failed to hold it. Additionally the group would have covered the Adige valley with nuclear fire if Warsaw Pact forces would have managed to reach it through the Puster or Wipp valley. the 27th Heavy Artillery Group "Marche" was to defend the Canal valley in case the Alpine Brigade "Julia" would have failed to hold it. Additionally the group would have provided fire against enemy forces approaching through the Yugoslavian Socialist Republic of Slovenia.
The W33 nuclear artillery shells for the three heavy artillery groups and W70 nuclear missile warheads for the 3rd Missile Artillery Group "Volturno" were stored in depots guarded by the brigades four infantry companies, but administered by the US Army 559th Artillery Group. These so-called "Special Ammunition Sites" were:
"Site Pluto" & "Site River": Site Pluto opened in 1955 and was the oldest of the special ammunition sites. Build into a cave system near Longare about 10 km south-east Vicenza it was the main nuclear weapons depot in Italy. At Site Pluto the 28th Field Artillery Detachment and the 69th Ordnance Company stored Honest John warheads, nuclear artillery shells, nuclear land mines and W31 nuclear warheads for the Italian Air Force's MIM-14 Nike-Hercules surface-to-air missile systems. Site River in Tormeno stored the same mix of ammunition and was administered by the 22nd Field Artillery Detachment and housed also the 19th Explosive Ordnance Disposal Detachment. The two sites were guarded by a Carabinieri Company and from 1976 onward also the Aquileia's 2nd Infantry Company. 140 W33 shells for the 9th Heavy Artillery Group "Rovigo" and 140 shells for the 27th Heavy Artillery Group "Marche" were stored at Site Pluto. Since the return of the nuclear weapons to the USA the site is used as ammunition depot for the US 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team in Vicenza. "Site Aldebaran" in Chiarano was opened in 1967 and administered by the 12th US Army Field Artillery Detachment. W70 warheads for the 1st Battery of the 3rd Missile Artillery Group "Volturno" were stored at the site. The site was guarded by the Aquileia's 3rd Infantry Company. "Site Algol" in Orsago fell also under administration of the 12th US Army Field Artillery Detachment. W70 warheads for the 2nd and 3rd Battery of the 3rd Missile Artillery Group "Volturno" were stored at the site. The site was guarded by the Aquileia's 1st Infantry Company. Site Algol was the last of the special ammunition sites to be closed after the Cold War in 1992. "Site Castor" in Alvisopoli near Portogruaro was administered by the 28th Field Artillery Detachment and stored warheads for the Honest John missile system, but after the system was retired in 1975 the site was given up and the Aquileia's 2nd Infantry Company moved to guard "Site Pluto".