US bases in Italia: where are they and what are their strategic functions?

The long-distance row between NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte and the Meloni government over at least 500 US aircraft which, as the former Prime Minister of the Netherlands has reported, took off from American bases in Italia to support the US operation ‘Epic Fury’ against Iran, has once again brought the issue of the US presence on Italian soil into the spotlight. Italia is home to some of the most important logistical and strategic installations in the entire Euro-Mediterranean region.

Whilst the US has announced its intention to reduce its presence within NATO, including at the military level, and the NATO summit in Ankara on 7 and 8 July is expected to provide an opportunity to formally present the new structure to the Alliance’s partners, Italian bases are not expected to be affected by this downsizing. On 15 June, the Defence Minister Guido Crosetto met with the US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth at the Pentagon in Washington. At the end of the face-to-face meeting, the Italian Defence Minister summarised what had emerged during the talks and confided that he had not sensed any intention on the part of the United States to withdraw from its bases in Italy. “On the contrary, from a bilateral and NATO perspective, cooperation with us is, in some ways, very important to the United States,” he explained whilst speaking to the media at the embassy in Washington. As for a US withdrawal from Europe, Crosetto explained that this is a plan the Americans have been discussing for years: a reduced commitment. “Assets that they could withdraw from Europe and which could easily be replaced by European assets.”

Only ‘logistical’ or ‘resupply’ operations. This is the main clause governing the use of US bases in Italia, where American military infrastructure consists of airports, radar towers and ports, whilst there are 13,000 US personnel – including recruits and officers – stationed in Italia. According to the protocols, therefore, should the United States intend to use one of its bases as a launching pad for military purposes – such as attacks on Tehran – the Italia government’s approval or parliamentary authorisation would be required. The first agreements governing the use of the bases date back to the immediate post-war period: the 1951 NATO SOFA, followed by the 1954 Bilateral Infrastructure Agreement, updated in 1973 and brought up to date with the 1995 Italia–US Memorandum of Understanding.

Here are the main US bases in Italia, and their characteristics.

It is home to the US Air Force’s 31st Fighter Wing. It is a key fighter airbase for projecting power into Eastern Europe, the Balkans and the Middle East. It is the permanent home to squadrons of F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter jets. It is regarded as one of the key sites in Europe for NATO’s nuclear sharing programme: according to SIPRI, B61 tactical nuclear bombs are stored there, ready for use should collective defence protocols be activated.