 {| |} the cessna a-37 dragonfly, or super tweet, is an american light attack aircraft developed from the t-37 tweet basic trainer in the 1960s and 1970s by cessna of wichita, kansas. the a-37 was introduced during the vietnam war and remained in peacetime service afterward. ==design and development== the growing american military involvement in vietnam in the early 1960s led to strong interest in counter-insurgency (coin) aircraft. in late 1962, the u.s. air force's special air warfare center at eglin air force base's hurlburt field in florida evaluated two t-37cs for the role. the air force found the t-37 promising, but wanted an improved version of the aircraft that could carry a much larger payload, and had much greater endurance and better short-field performance. this meant a heavier aircraft with more powerful engines. in 1963, the air force awarded a contract to cessna for two prototype yat-37d aircraft: t-37s with modifications that included: *stronger wings. *three stores pylons on each wing. *larger wingtip fuel tanks of 360 litre (95 us gallons) capacity. *a general electric gau-2b/a 7.62&nbsp;mm "minigun" gatling-style machine gun, with a rate of fire of 3,000 rounds/minute and 1,500 rounds of ammunition. the weapon was fitted in the right side of the aircraft's nose behind a large, convenient access panel. a gunsight and gun camera were also fitted. *better avionics for battlefield communications, navigation, and targeting. *tougher landing gear for rough-field operation. these changes meant a drastic increase in aircraft weight and the aircraft now had to carry a significant payload as well. cessna, therefore, doubled the engine power by replacing the two continental j-69 engines with general electric j85-j2/5 turbojet engines with 2,400&nbsp;lbf (10.7&nbsp;kn) thrust each. the first yat-37d flew in october 1964, followed a year later 
Cessna_aircraft Low-wing_aircraft Twinjets United_States_attack_aircraft_1960a1969