during the short conflict. Politics had also played a role, since Hitler did not wish to antagonize the Soviet Union by allowing aircraft exports through German-controlled territory during the Winter War. In addition to Fokker fighters and Bristol Blenheim bombers built under license, new aircraft types were in place by the time hostilities with Soviet Union resumed in 1941. Small numbers of Hawker Hurricanes arrived from the United Kingdom, Morane-Saulnier M.S.406s from France, Fiat G.50s from Italy, and one liaison aircraft. Numerous Brewster F2A Buffaloes from the neutral USA strengthened the FAF. A few dozen Curtiss Hawk 75s captured by the Germans in France and Norway were sold to Finland when Germany began warming up its ties with Finland. Finns reconditioned captured Tupolev SBs, Ilyushin DB-3s, and Polikarpov I-153s for service. The FAF proved capable of holding its own in the upcoming battles with the Red Air Force. Older models, such as the Fokker D.XXI and Gloster Gladiator, had been replaced with new aircraft in front-line combat units. The FAF's main mission was to achieve air superiority over Finnish-held territory and to prevent Soviet air power from reinforcing the Red Army's front lines. The fighter squadrons proved very successful in the Finnish offensive of 1941. A stripped-down, more manoeuvrable, and significantly lightened version of the American Brewster Buffalo was the FAF's main fighter until 1943. Results with this fighter were very good, even though the type was considered to be a failure in the US Navy and with British and Dutch Far East forces. In Finnish use, the Brewster had a victory rate of 32:1 – 459 kills to 15 losses. German Bf 109s replaced the Brewster as the primary front-line fighter of the FAF in 1943, though the Buffalos continued in secondary roles until the end of the fighting. Other types, including the Italian Fiat G.50 and Curtiss Hawk 75, also proved capable in the hands of well-trained Finnish pilots. The principle reconnaissance type was the German Arado Ar 196, which had been purchased in 1943 and continued to serve throughout the war, though by mid-1944 the planes' pre-war roots were showing and were subsequently modified to a later A-5 model in an attempt to stave off obsolescence. Various Russian designs also saw action when lightly damaged "kills" were repaired and made airworthy. Dornier Do 17s (received as a gift from Hermann Göring in 1942) and Junkers Ju 88s