The unit suffered from the poor serviceability and low production rates of the Fw 200 bombers, and from repeated diversion of its long-haul capability aircraft to undertake transport duties in various theatres, especially for the airlift operations to supply encircled forces in the Battle of Stalingrad.

The unit flew reconnaissance missions in the North Atlantic searching for Allied convoys and reported their findings to the Kriegsmarine's U-boat fleets.

[1] On 9 February 1941, five Focke-Wulf Fw 200 of I./KG 40 under command of Fritz Fliegel, in cooperation with the heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper and U-37, attacked the British convoy HG 53.

On 3 August 1941 F8+CL of 3.Staffel was damaged in combat with another CAM Hurricane flown by Lt. R. Everett RNVR launched by HMS Maplin and crash-landed in France with two dead and one injured aboard.

On 1 Nov 1942 the SS Empire Heath in convoy HG-91 launched her Sea Hurricane flown by F/O Norman Taylor DFM to chase the Focke-Wulf Fw 200C F8+DS of 7.Staffel.

By late 1943, the main role of the KG 40's Condors was to interdict Allied Gibraltar convoys, whose departure was usually reported by German agents in Spain.

They were manned by the best graduates of the bomber training schools, and supervised by former Lufthansa pilots already expert at long-distance flying by dead reckoning navigation.

[1] The Fw 200C-4 equipped the unit from February 1942, and added the pre-production Rostock and then standard FuG 200 Hohentwiel search radar, giving blind-bombing capability.