Key Points: Satellite imagery revealed on May 8th suggests Iran operates a tritium production facility, the “Rainbow Site,” indicating a potential move towards more advanced, higher-yield nuclear weapons and undermining claims of a purely peaceful program. This development elevates concerns amid ongoing nuclear talks.
-The US maintains a strong deterrent posture, with B-2 and B-52 bombers deployed to Diego Garcia capable of striking such isolated facilities, supported by Space Force’s advanced early warning.
B-2 Bomber. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
-US diplomatic red lines, articulated by Envoy Steve Witkoff, demand complete dismantlement of Iran’s enrichment capabilities, signaling a firm stance against these new proliferation indicators.
With Secret Rainbow Site, Iran Eyes Advanced Nukes
Iran’s nuclear program has a nasty new angle. Beyond enriching uranium, satellite photos revealed on May 8 suggest Iran has gone one step further with an element known as tritium, which can boost the yield of nuclear weapons. Gillian Turner and Nick Kalman of FOX News broke the story on Iran’s nuclear program on May 8.
“The Rainbow site is being used primarily to extract tritium, a material used to boost nuclear weapons, with no real civil or commercial applications,” Turner reported. Turner, who previously served on the National Security Council, noted that a tritium facility puts paid to Iran’s longstanding claim that they just want nuclear power for peaceful purposes.
Naturally, Iran mocked Turner and Kalman’s Rainbow Site scoop. “Like clockwork, more Very Scary Satellite Images are being circulated as Iran-U.S. indirect nuclear talks are set to resume,” Araghchi said via the Chinese newswire Xinhua. According to Turner and Kalman, the pictures came from sources inside Iran working for Iran’s resistance.
What If Iran Is Working with Tritium?
If Iran is working with tritium, it’s a very bad sign. Tritium enables more advanced weapons design. Tritium could up the destructive power of an Iranian nuclear bomb, turning a crude device into a far more devastating weapon. “Only a few grams of tritium per warhead are needed to boost nuclear weapon yields significantly,” noted the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation. “Tritium’s relatively short half-life means that it needs renewal more often than other weapons materials,” the Center added.
With tritium production, Iran could develop and maintain an indefinitely more advanced arsenal of weapons. Fortunately, tritium can be detected by monitoring wastewater and atmospheric particulate analysis, the type performed by the US Air Force WC-135R Constant Phoenix, also known as the “nuke sniffer,” which carries out frequent global missions.
No wonder the US maximum pressure on Iran is ratcheting up even as rounds of talks proceed.
From a military perspective, Iran’s Rainbow Site is a piece of cake for US bombers. Those pictures are a targeteering dream. Isolated and far from major population centers, the image illustrates that any military strike would be precise, limited, and effective if diplomacy failed.
Even on the internet, it’s easy to determine the materials used in building construction, the type of soil, the major operational features of the facility, and all the details necessary to select good aim points should it need to be destroyed.
The bomber build-up at Diego Garcia is continuing, with the arrival of US B-52s carrying out a Bomber Task Force mission. The most recent count was six B-2 bombers and four B-52s on the ramp at Diego Garcia. With that much firepower in the theater and their KC-135 tankers, a strike option could cover multiple facilities, including the so-called Rainbow Site. More bombers are available from global and theater locations.
A U.S. Air Force 509th Bomb Wing B-2 Spirit refuels from a 351st Aerial Refueling Squadron KC-135 Stratotanker during the Bomber Task Force training exercise over England, Aug. 29, 2019. The B-2 aircraft will operate out of RAF Fairford, England, and will exercise there at U.S. Air Forces in Europe’s forward operating location for bombers. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Jordan Castelan)
Another advantage is that the US has vast space superiority over Iran, enabling offense and defense across domains. For the US Space Force, countering Iran has become a battle lab for honing their tactics.
Space forces cued warnings when Iran launched a salvo of 12 in a ballistic missile attack on US forces at Al Asad Air Base, Iraq, in January 2020. Over 50 fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft were evacuated in advance, and the base rode out hits on maintenance facilities along the flight line. On April 13, 2024, the Space Force cued tracks for the massive Iranian attack on Israel. Mission Delta 4 commander Colonel Ernest “Bobby” Schmitt told Air and Space Forces Magazine that the attack was “unprecedented as far as the volume and scope and time constraints,” with Iran launching 30 cruise missiles, 120 ballistic missiles, and 170 drones—the UUSSpace Force dove into action again with Iran’s October attack.
The risks of Iran’s nuclear program are clearly on display. Half measures won’t be acceptable. Envoy Steve Witkoff put it very bluntly. “An enrichment program can never exist in the state of Iran ever again. That’s our red line. No enrichment. That means dismantlement, no weaponization, and that Natanz, Fordow, and Isfahan—their three enrichment facilities—have to be dismantled,” Witkoff said.
Finally, Iran’s possible tritium facility reminds Congress to prioritize US Military forces that can handle this kind of work: B-21 bombers, Navy aircraft carriers with F/A-XX, and plenty of Standard Missile family interceptors for the US Navy surface fleet. Above all, the US Space Force should be funded for whatever it needs to keep up monitoring Iran and North Korea and everything else that goes into space superiority.
About the Author:
Dr. Rebecca Grant, a Vice President at the Lexington Institute, is a national security analyst based in Washington, DC, specializing in defense and aerospace research and national security consulting. She has over 20 years experience working with the United States Air Force, United States Navy, and top aerospace clients. In addition, Dr. Grant has often appeared on television as an expert on national security for Fox News, Fox Business, CNN, and MSNBC and as a series regular on The Smithsonian’s Air Warriors.
