What Lend-Lease P-40s changed in the Mediterranean

Did American Lend-Lease P-40s close Britain's aircraft gap in the Mediterranean and North Africa?

They helped and were not a hindrance, but they substituted for other aircraft rather than removing the theater's much larger demand for fighters.

The P-40s added usable strength to the Mediterranean and North African forces without solving the theater-wide aircraft shortage. They often filled places that otherwise required another airframe, so their arrival changed the mix more than the total requirement. Britain still needed a very large number of aircraft across the theater after the Lend-Lease fighters appeared.