In 1967, four months after delivery, the new A-37A entered combat in South Vietnam.(Roger Moseley)
From Air And Space Smithsonian:
Yeah. The A-37 was small. So was Napoleon.
Looking for Mach-busting splendor in million-dollar wonders from the heavies of the U.S. military-industrial complex? This ain't it. The A-37 Dragonfly was a waist-high, subsonic light attack aircraft that could lift its own weight in fuel and armaments, built by a manufacturer known for civilian pleasure craft. You could get a half-dozen for the price of a single F-4. The A-37 brought jet-propelled combat in Vietnam down from rarefied heights to the low-and-slow—where the acrid haze of rice-burning season permeated the unpressurized cockpit and you plucked bullets from Viet Cong small arms out of the armor plate under your seat after a mission. Its claim to fame?
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My Comment: Small, cheap, can be massed produced, and terribly. This is a mindset that is missing in today's Defense R&D departments and procurements.