Curtiss Tomahawk Mk.IIb & Kittyhawk Mk.Ia

At a very early stage, the Curtiss P-40 attracted the attention of foreign air forces. On May 10, 1939, the French government ordered 140 export versions of the P-40 for the Armee de l'Air. These aircraft were designated Hawk 81-A1 by the manufacturer. The Hawk 81-A1s were identical to the US P-40 except that they had French instruments and equipment and were equipped with reverse-movement "French-fashion" throttles.

The first of the French-ordered H81-A1s flew on June 6, 1940, and a few were actually completed with French markings. However, before any of their H81-A1s could be delivered, France had surrendered. Britain agreed to take over the entirety of the French order, and gave the H81-A1 the name Tomahawk Mk. I in RAF service. As the invasion of Briton never occurred they were only used in training roles and a few were delivered to the Middle East where they acquired their famous "shark's tooth" insignia on the engine cowling, and this scheme was later adopted by the American Volunteer Group in China.

However, Britain quickly concluded that these planes were not suitable for combat, since they lacked armor protection for the pilot, armor-glass windshields, or self-sealing fuel tanks. Tomahawk MK. IIb was the designation given to a new and improved export P-40, one which was better equipped for combat. It was functionally equivalent to the P-40C then being issued to USAAC units. It had four 0.303-inch Browning machine guns in the wings in addition to the two nose-mounted 0.50-in guns.

The Tomahawk IIbs were active in the Middle East from October of 1941 onward. They shared in the strafing of the retreating Axis troops. At low altitudes, the Tomahawk IIb was actually superior to the Bf 109, but this advantage rapidly disappeared when combat took place at altitudes above 15,000 feet. The weight which handicapped the performance of the Tomahawk did have one tangible benefit--the rugged structure could absorb a terrific amount of battle damage and still allow the airplane to return to base. Although generally outclassed by the BF 109, the Tomahawk was a capable fighter in the hands of experienced pilots.

By the entry into the war by America the current P-40s were showing that they were no match for newer fighter aircraft types, so Curtiss set about redesigning the P-40 to improve its performance. What emerged was the P-40D/E with the 1,150hp Allison V-1710-39 engine, additional armor, four 0.50in wing mounted machine guns, and a center line hard point for bombs or external fuel. The aircraft was supplied to the RAF designated as Kittyhawk I, while only the first 22 USAAC examples had the four gun wing, the rest having six guns and being designated Kittyhawk Mk.Ia. 1,500 aircraft were procured by the USAAC for lend/lease to the RAF as Kittyhawk Mk.Ia's.

GB Planes and Specifications