Jupiter IRBM Basing Strategy

The United States began negotiations to deploy Jupiter missiles abroad in the spring of 1958. The discussions were complex and time consuming because deploying the missiles on foreign soil involved the delicate issues of national sovereignty, as well as more mundane matters such as training, technology transfer, maintenance, and who would foot the bill.

The United States and Italy concluded an arrangement to base Jupiters in that Mediterranean nation in March 1958 and Italian crews began training in the United States in May 1959. All of the technical details were resolved in a supplemental agreement signed the following August, and in October 1960 the Italian Air Force crews completed their training in the United States. Under the terms of the basing agreement, the missiles would be operated by Italian Air Force crews but the warheads would remain under American control.

Negotiations to deploy Jupiter missiles in Turkey took slightly longer. The two governments reached an understanding in October 1959, and in May 1960 a technical agreement cleared up the remaining questions. To hasten the deployment process, the Turkish government agreed that at the outset, the missiles would be manned by United States Air Force personnel. The United States would, however, train Turkish crews to operate the missiles and would eventually relinquish control of the site to the host nation. By April 1962 the Air Force declared its Jupiter at Cigli Air Base, Turkey, operational.

DesignationSquadronsBaseOperational
NATO I2Gioia Dell Colle, Italy1960-1963
NATO II1Cigli AB, Turkey1962-1963