Trumpeter 1/35 Challenger 2 Operation Telic Iraq 2003 (00323)

Challenger 2 during Operation Telic

Trumpeter’s 1/35 scale kit depicts the British Challenger 2 main battle tank during Operation Telic in Iraq in 2003. Kit 00323 offers a subject from a significant chapter in modern British armoured warfare, distinct from the tank’s earlier peace-support deployment to Kosovo.

Historical background

Challenger 2 was developed by Vickers as the successor to Challenger 1 and entered British Army service in the 1990s. Its 120mm rifled main gun and advanced armour protection made it the centrepiece of Britain’s heavy armoured forces.

Operation Telic was the name given to the British military operation in Iraq beginning in 2003. Challenger 2 tanks served with British forces in southern Iraq, including operations around Basra. The deployment tested crews and vehicles in a demanding environment of heat, dust and a mixture of open terrain and built-up areas.

For tank crews and support personnel, operations depended on more than firepower alone. Maintenance, fuel supply, communication and coordination with other units were essential to keeping the armoured force effective. A model set in this period can therefore tell both the story of the tank and that of the wider organisation supporting it.

Model details

• Manufacturer: Trumpeter
• Scale: 1/35
• Subject: British Challenger 2 main battle tank
• Operation: Telic
• Setting: Iraq, 2003
• Kit number: 00323

Add an Operation Telic subject to your modern British armour collection, or make it the centrepiece of a display focused on British vehicles in Iraq.