Introduced as a replacement to the earlier Challenger 1, a vehicle which served with distinction during the swift battle to free Kuwait in 1991 and helped keep the peace in the fractured remnants of Yugoslavia, the Challenger 2 would have big boots to fill. The relatively quick conflict in 1991 was to be replaced by the invasion and occupation of Iraq in 2002. This later conflict saw British forces operating in Southern Iraq based in large part around the port city of Basra. Whilst experience in Northern Ireland and the Balkans could only help in the post invasion phase, the threat level in Iraq in general and southern Iraq in particular involved a terrifying array of IEDs (improvised explosive devices) and wide range of RPG and hollow charge weapons much of which was left behind from Saddam Hussein's vast arsenals were further augmented by deliveries by Iranian revolutionary guards to Muqtada al-Sadr's forces and affiliates. British forces in Iraq and later in Afghanistan now found themselves serving in a high-intensity, counter-insurgency campaign operating over extremely difficult terrain amidst a hostile civilian population and against a fairly fanatical foe. While still using such standard vehicles as the Land Rover it quickly became apparent that they were unsuitable for the unconventional nature of the conflict and while a whole range of new light patrol vehicles were eventually ordered.
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