A-37 Dragonfly | Cessna's forgotten fighter

The Cessna A-37 Dragonfly earned a reputation as one of the most effective close-support and counter-insurgency aircraft of the Vietnam war. From a small jet trainer, the “Super Tweet” was transformed into a heavily armed CAS aircraft capable of carrying thousands of pounds of weapons. When the first A-37s arrived in Vietnam for the experimental Combat Dragon program, their crews were about to discover just how capable the little aircraft really was. Flying thousands of sorties in some of the war’s most dangerous low-level missions, the Dragonfly proved remarkably accurate, rugged and reliable. Yet despite its extraordinary combat record, it remained largely overshadowed by aircraft like the F-4 Phantom and A-1 Skyraider. We think the A-37 Dragonfly was one of the most underrated attack aircraft of the Vietnam War. CONTENTS: 00:00 Introduction 01:25 Background 05:25 Tweet history 07:37 A-37 Development 10:37 Vietnam – Combat Dragon 14:09 A-37B 18:21 End of the program Made possible by our members—this is what keeps the channel independent and ongoing ✔ Merch & Members ► https://peacemaker.net.au ✔ Website ►https://militaryaviationvideos.com/ ✔ Twitter ► https://x.com/MilAviationHist ✔ Instagram ► https://instagram.com/peacemaker.aviation ✔ Fashion ► https://peacemaker.fashion ✔ Substack ► https://militaryaviationvideos.substack.com/ ✔ AMAHA ► https://raafdocumentary.com/ ✔ Podcast ► https://open.spotify.com/show/0DhHwTSCvQqkNJxjkt4oGg _____________ Disclaimer _____________ Some original footage and recreated scenes (using simulators like DCS and War Thunder) may not be 100% accurate to the events depicted but have been used for illustrative and dramatic purposes where archival footage was unavailable or restricted by copyright. We aim to remain as historically accurate as possible given the available resources. Our documentaries are researched, written, fact-checked and edited by our production team. Narration is performed by a combination of human presenters and Charles, our signature digital narrator. Charles reads scripts written entirely by our team and is used to provide a consistent narration style across our documentaries. Copyright Notice: This video may contain copyrighted material used under the "fair dealing" provisions (ss 40/103C, ss 41/103A, ss 42/103B) of the Australian Copyright Act for purposes of research, study, criticism, review, and news reporting. All copyrights remain with their respective owners. Our videos are created for educational and historical documentation purposes. About Us: We are three aviation enthusiasts who create documentaries, interviews, and video essays focused on Australian and international military aviation history. Our channel explores the stories of military aircraft, fighter pilots, air battles, and the evolution of air power from WWI to today. We do our own research but are not experts in any particular area, so corrections and suggestions are welcome.