Updated

Updated · CNN · Sep 9

Trump Threatens Strike on Pickaxe Mountain as Satellite Images Show Surge at Suspected Iranian Nuclear Site

Updated

Updated · CNN · Sep 9

Trump Threatens Strike on Pickaxe Mountain as Satellite Images Show Surge at Suspected Iranian Nuclear Site

Q: What classified weapons are currently being tested to breach the impenetrable granite defenses of Iran's newest nuclear fortress?

There is no public evidence identifying the classified weapons now being tested, beyond reports that the Pentagon is validating new deep-penetration strike capabilities aimed at targets like Iran’s Pickaxe Mountain. What is known is that the current benchmark weapon is the GBU-57/B Massive Ordnance Penetrator, a 30,000-pound bunker-busting bomb carried by the B-2. Open-source reporting describes it as the heaviest non-nuclear bomb in the U.S. arsenal, designed to penetrate deeply buried, hardened facilities. But analysts cited in the reporting say Pickaxe Mountain’s granite overburden and estimated depth may put key parts of the site beyond even the GBU-57’s reliable reach. That limitation is why U.S. defense planners are reportedly pursuing a successor. CNN and other reports say the Pentagon conducted emergency work at a granite test site at White Sands Missile Range tied to a “live-fire test” of “classified capabilities against rapidly emerging threats.” Sources linked that work to efforts to develop ways to strike Iran’s deepest underground facilities. The next weapon is widely described in defense reporting as a “next-generation penetrator,” with some accounts naming it the GBU-76/B. But its exact design, performance, testing status, and whether it can actually defeat Pickaxe remain classified or unconfirmed. Publicly, the clearest answer is that the U.S. is testing a new penetrator capability to exceed the GBU-57, but the specific weapon details have not been disclosed.

3 articles · Updated · CNN · Sep 9

Pickaxe Mountain — a suspected Iranian nuclear site near Natanz — could face US military action, Trump said in Dallas, citing "a little movement" and warning, "We may have to give him a shot there too."
CNN had reported hours earlier that analysts reviewing six years of satellite imagery found a clear surge in construction at the granite-buried site this year amid the US-Iran war.
US intelligence agencies have long watched Pickaxe Mountain as a likely location where Iran could protect future nuclear program work, making the new activity especially sensitive.
Trump also said he overrode Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's concerns that war would hurt the economy, underscoring how the conflict has stretched beyond his initial four-to-six-week timetable.