With Democrats now controlling both houses of Congress, Israel may find itself cut off from the heavy munitions it would need for a strike on Iran's most fortified sites.
Of the hundreds of nuclear warheads in America's operational arsenal, only one was designed from the outset for a unique mission: to penetrate the ground and turn the surrounding rock itself into a weapon. It is the B61-11, the only nuclear weapon in the active U.S. arsenal built to destroy deeply buried bunkers.
Most nuclear bombs are designed to detonate in the air or on the surface. The B61-11 is meant to bury itself in the ground before exploding, sending a powerful seismic shock through the earth that collapses tunnels and underground facilities without striking them directly.
The weapon has returned to the center of debate in Washington. According to U.S. reports, the administration has examined military options against a heavily fortified underground Iranian nuclear facility near Natanz known as Pickaxe Mountain, which is carved some 100 meters deep into solid granite. (Read More)
