Ru • Q Roae January 5 196 Dear Mr M1n1ater You will recall that durinl our conversati on 1n Paris on Dec aber 1 I reaaed the Yiew that the Jupiter m1aa1l ea ahould be replaced bJ mor ett ective • iaa1lea now availabl e In 1957 when the dec1•1on wa• Nde to install these a iaaile they alone with the Thor•• were the only s trategi c balliatic 111 aailea the Alliance had read 7 tor operation T ne Jupiter• belped greatly to build l lp our earJ y l alliat1c a1aaile atre but with the r apid advance• 1n technoloa and the accolerating growth ot • iaaile forces they no lonpr fora a aaJor p rt ot the Alliance's a1sa1le atrength In thia year alooe tbe nu• ber ot operat iooal at rat gic ball1at1c • 1aailea in the Alliance will increue troa about 50 to 850 Mor importantly aa a irat generation miaaile these J upiters are easily located 01 the enemy and vulnerable to both conventional and nuclear attack It 1• queatlonable at her the7 would aunive a Soviet aurpr1ae attack Such a 7atea today proaiaea to be relat1nly 1netteot1ve and it present• a vu in rat i and tewpt 111 target - condit ions which e oul d s eek to avoid 1r we can tind an alternative weapon yatem which better meet s our • 111tary needa 'Ibia 1• eapeoially true a inc we auat continue to anticipate Soviet at1mulat ed orlua ot cOlll Ar ble or even gs-eater intenaity u tor exa• ple • 1aht ooour at an ttae OTer trlin eema to ue a1r able on theee count to mod mis ob olet e ayste • 1n I tal y I have 1n • ind not only tn Jupiter a1as1l• but al o th Corpor al m1ae1l ea in AP It 111eapon • believe the beat available alternative to JUp1ter is th Polari• m1aa11• ul mar1ne ayatem In addi t1on to being lea a exposed than the Jup1t era the • taa1l•• would have av ry much higher probab1l1tJ ot survival in the faoe ot a audd on nuclear attack • propose t nat - J ubmarlnoa operate in tho Mediterranean be assigned to SACBUR anc1 be CA targeted by n1• tw1th Italian participation 1'b1a Polaria tore• can be o atat1on by Aprill The Honorable Oiuli o Andreotti Mini at er or Detenae DECLASSIFIED Authority t JNO q C l DECLASSIFIED Authority r JNO q 5 9 0 -2- It 1a important th t our allies and our enemies underntand that the ubatitution of this modern weapon system creates a more formidable • 111tary postUN tor NATO It has been our policy and 1'fill continue to be our polioy to assist our all1•• in the proviaion of increasingly effective military defense thrOugh a measured and continuou phase-in or modern weapons In this way the Alliance can have the benefit or the moat effective deterrent force we are capable ot deviaing h1le denying to the Soviets an opportunity to bring political pressures to bear by threatening attaoka against highly vulnerable weapons or more limited military value We wiah it to be clearly understood that 1n advancing the proposal tor aubat1tut1on ot Polaria tor Jupitera we envisage working out all upeota 1n oloaest harmony with the Italian Government and would ot course be reaponaive to your views on how t he substitution can most expeditiowsly be etfeoted Finally we would believe that Alliance intereata ould beat be served it the substitution were con lcted 1n a low kay u a natural evolution to a better weapon syatea aa in f'act ta the caae rather than having the aubatitution lliarepreaented 1n any way Aa part ot thia modernization progru we AN prepared to improve SETAP by aubat1tut1n a auitable force ot the next pnaration ot • iaail•• • ti- Sergeant• tor the obaolete Corporal aiaa11•• and to continue 1ta port with U S troops It your Government agrees with th••• propoaala appropriate atat'f or our two Government a in oooper tion with SACI ouc could begin diacuaaiona mediately with a view to workt na itic arr nta Ambaasador Re inhardt ohortly will raiae th1a utter 1th the Italian aovernment Sincerely Rol ert s Mc Jamara Secretary or Def' n