In the 1950s there was a competition to provide Strategic Air Command with a new strategic bomber to replace the Convair B-36 Peacemaker. The path was somewhat convoluted, but eventually it led to a fly-off between the
Convair YB-60, a jet engine variant of the B-36, and the
Boeing XB-52. The B-52 of course won, with the YB-60 being rejected for service due to control difficulties. The flying surfaces that had allowed the B-36 to be so maneuverable at lower speeds and higher altitudes made the YB-60 difficult to handle at higher speeds and lower altitudes.
The YB-60 used the same fuselage as the B-36, but it was mated to a new wing structure and with jet propulsion. That means the B-60 would likely have been capable of carrying the same munitions the B-36 could carry, including the three largest bombs in history, the conventional
T-12 Cloudmaker and the thermonuclear
Mk. 14 and
Mk. 17. They weighed around 42,000 pounds, often more when various additions to the bombs were included. The
GBU-57A/B Massive Ordnance Penetrator and
GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB) bombs are small in comparison.
I'm wondering if the B-60's probable ability to carry massive ordnance would allow it to bring any unique capabilities under various military scenarios. What does internal carriage of a 42,000 piece of ordnance allow?