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The "Big Belly" Bomber

Dense foliage in South Vietnam made locating targets almost impossible, forcing the U.S. Air Force to use area, or "carpet," bombing. To support this tactic, the "Big Belly" program modified the bomb bays of many B-52Ds to carry more conventional bombs. Unmodified B-52Ds could carry only 27 even 500-pound or 750-pound bombs, but the Big Belly could carry 84 500-pound or 42 750-pound bombs.
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