How many conventional bombs could the Vulcan's bomb bay hold?

The Vulcan was designed for nuclear deterrence. The specification it came from called for carrying a 10,000 lb (4,500 kg) bomb and, as an alternative, a conventional bomb load of 20,000 lb (9,100 kg). The result was a single central bomb bay, flanked by the pairs of engines, able to hold large, heavy weapons.

As an alternative to the nuclear weapon, the Vulcan's bomb bay could carry 21 conventional 1,000 lb (454 kg) bombs. The variant tables list that same load for both the B.1 and the B.2. Among the nuclear weapons the Vulcan carried were the British Blue Danube, Violet Club and Yellow Sun bombs and the American Mark 5, supplied under Project E. The B.2 could also carry the stand-off Blue Steel missile.

Although it was designed for a nuclear war that never came, the Vulcan only saw combat with conventional bombs. In 1982, during the Falklands War between the United Kingdom and Argentina, the Vulcan carried out conventional bombing missions in Operation Black Buck, the only time the type saw combat.000 lb, in one of the longest-range bombing missions of its day, supported by numerous in-flight refuellings. On some sorties the bombs were replaced by American AGM-45 Shrike anti-radar missiles, used against an Argentine radar station in Port Stanley.

The aircraft originated from Air Ministry specification B.35/46.