Whilst the ML-KNIL preferred the Bell P-400 Airacobra, it ordered 140 Curtiss P-40Es in 1940/41 following an offer by the British government to relinquish these aircraft from its orders. It is likely that those orders had been placed directly by the British Government, ie not through the USAAF. The construction numbers and ML-KNIL serials for these P-40Es are not known. None had been delivered prior to the Japanese invasion and the fate of the airframes, if any, is not known.
As the aircraft had already been paid for and the situation in the NEI was worsening, US authorities took several steps to speed up the delivery of P-40Es to the NEI by diverting aircraft from other production batches.
The ML-KNIL ordered 162 Brewster Buccaneer aircraft (although initially 217 aircraft were requested). The serials BD-901/9162 were reserved for these aircraft (although some reference sources suggests the serials were B-901/9162 whilst other sources have suggested BD-702 etc) which were to be used by a, to be formed, 6e Vliegtuiggroep (VLG-VI) to be comprised of 9 Afdelingen of 9 aircraft each (the remainder of the aircraft to be held in reserve). They were not completed in time and were diverted to the US Marine Corps where they were used as SB2A-4 with serials 29214/29375.
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