P-40C/Tomahawk IIB, and the aircraft built for China lacked the later Tomahawk's fittings to carry a drop tank and the addition of an armor plate in front of the pilot. The fighters were purchased without "government-furnished equipment" such as reflector gunsights, radios and wing guns; the lack of these items caused continual difficulties for the AVG in Burma and China.

The 100 P-40 aircraft were crated and sent to Burma on third country freighters during spring