The Curtiss P-40 Warhawk is an American World War II era ground attack fighter that first flew in 1938. The Warhawk was used by most Allied powers during World War II, and remained in frontline service until the end of the war. The P-40 served as an air superiority fighter, bomber escort and fighter-bomber in all of these and performed surprisingly well as an air superiority fighter inflicting a very heavy toll on enemy aircraft. Based on war-time victory claims, over 200 Allied fighter pilots from 7 different nations became aces flying the P-40, with at least 20 double aces.