The Avro Vulcan entered service with the RAF in 1956 as part of the 'V-force' of Cold-War nuclear deterrent bombers which included the Valiant and Victor.
The earliest load for the Vulcan was the 10-kiloton Blue Danube nuclear gravity bomb, which was quickly replaced by the Violet Club and Yellow Sun Mk 1 and 2 all of which were 400-kiloton weapons.

The Red Beard 25-Kiloton tactical bomb was also employed, but the largest and most specialised load was the Blue Steel stand-off missile which was fitted into modified Vulcans and had a range of 150 miles and a 1.1 megaton warhead.

As the deterrent force was handed to the Navy, the Vulcans were adapted to conventional bombing roles and the standard load was 21 x 1,000lb standard gravity bombs. The only combat missions flown were in 1982 very near the end of the Vulcan's life, during the Falklands/Malvinas war.