The original French order for Warhawks, now becoming British Tomahawk Is, were further addressed to acquiesce to new British requirements for the P-40. Ninety aircraft were modified to have armoring and self-sealing fuel tanks, reversed throttle controls and British instrumentation - producing the "Tomahawk IIA" designation. Twenty-more were added as new-builds from Curtiss lines.
Then came an order for 930 "Tomahawk IIB" models which replaced the original American 0.30 caliber wing guns with British 0.303-inch guns. This variant was also given provision for a jettisonable ventral fuel tank, featured British instrumentation and installed with an updated fuel delivery system.
Tomahawks were fielded by British and Commonwealth forces over Europe, during the North African Campaign, across Southeast Asia and around the Mediterranean. It was in the desert campaign that the Warhawk received its iconic "shark's mouth" nose decal - a detail later featured on American-piloted P-40s in China against the Japanese.
About 100 aircraft of the British order were sectioned off for delivery to China following a Chinese government purchase of the modern fighter. These were assembled locally and eventually fielded with volunteer American pilots at the controls through the "American Volunteer Group" - or AVG. The AVG served as indirect American involvement against Japan with the force made up of Army, Navy and Marine airmen.
For the various services of the world employing the Tomahawk, the type served well for its time though it was outclassed as a frontline fighting machine in short order. Those that managed to fight on for a period longer were done in by lack of spares. Others were simply surpassed technologically by the arrival of superior Supermarine Spitfires and North American P-51 Mustangs.
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