Four days before the start of the US-Iran war, repair work began at a specialised underground weapons test site in the US state of New Mexico for a live-fire test. A programme manager at an obscure Pentagon agency entrusted with combating weapons of mass destruction signed an emergency $1.2 million to repair the missile range to conduct a “live-fire test designed to validate classified capabilities against rapidly emerging threats.”
Now, reports claim that this was linked to the US plan to launch a new operation against an Iranian nuclear facility, which could be the infamous Pickaxe Mountain.
Interestingly, this underground nuclear site, located near the Natanz nuclear complex roughly 140 miles south of Tehran, has been witnessing a flurry of construction work this year, satellite imagery shows. Many think this is to protect Iran’s future nuclear programme efforts.
In 2025, US bunker-buster bombs made their combat debut during US strikes last year on underground Iranian nuclear facilities at Fordow and Natanz as part of Operation Midnight Hammer. But, the bombs could not knock out the deeply buried Isfahan nuclear site.
But, the US could be developing ability to hit those sites.
Days before the US and Israeli forces struck Iran, the Pentagon’s Defence Threat Reduction Agency quietly announced it had awarded a deal to Pate Construction Co., Inc., for new construction at the so-called Alternate Seismic Hardrock in Situ Test site. The work was to develop a facility needed to support an upcoming classified live-fire test.
The plans for the test [at ALT-SHIST] were connected to the Iran war, CNN said in its story, citing unnamed sources. Beyond that, the planned testing was tied to a “need to develop a way to target Iran’s deepest-buried underground facilities and, likely, simulate U.S. strikes against specific nuclear facilities.”
Though it is unclear whether or not the test had occurred, the contract to Pate mentioned that there was an urgent requirement critical to U.S. national security, without mentioning Iran.
The report added that the apparent work at ALT-SHIST was visible in satellite imagery of the site between mid-February and mid-March. The images showed that between February 16 and February 18, excavation work began at a remote Defence Threat Reduction Agency and US Strategic Command-operated site at White Sands. Similar to Pickaxe Mountain, the DTRA test site in White Sands is also carved into granite, the report added.
CNN also quoted a source familiar with the matter who claimed that elements within the Defence Department recently held a “planning sprint” on the topic.
