Abdullah had thought he would spend his life in the military, but to his surprise, on 24 January 1999, weeks before his father's death, he replaced his uncle Hassan as heir apparent. In March 1999, after Abdullah II had ascended to the throne, the British Government, in a show of support of Abdullah's foreign policy, and in response to a request from the new king, announced an agreement to supply Jordan with up to 288 Challenger 1 tanks as they came out of British service. These tanks had an average in-service book value of £750,000 per unit, that would reduce to zero upon withdrawal. The tanks were therefore supplied to Jordan at no cost, with the Jordanian Government agreeing to cover any transfer costs arising. The deal also included 112 support vehicles. This first tranche of vehicles were supplied to Jordan over a three-year period from 1999 to 2002 and enabled the replacement of the Jordanian Centurion fleet (known locally as Tariq). In late 2002 after a further 114 Challenger 1 MBTs and 19 training tanks were 'gifted' to Jordan. These vehicles had an in-service book value of £385,000 per unit but were also supplied to Jordan for the cost of the logistics of transfer. The 402 Jordanian Challenger 1 tanks received substantial local modifications and were known in Jordanian service as Al-Hussein. Plans to upgrade Jordanian Challengers with a locally designed unmanned turret called Falcon were unveiled in 2003 and prototypes were produced. However, the design never reached full production and by 2016 had been shelved. The Jordanian Challenger 1 fleet was retired by January 2023. being replaced by French-made Leclerc tanks from the UAE and ex-Italian B1 Centauro 8x8 wheeled tank destroyers. The withdrawn Jordanian vehicles are now in storage. In light of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, there is speculation that these vehicles could be acquired from Jordan and refurbished for Ukrainian use. Operational service In 1990, in preparation for Operation Granby, the UK operation in the First Gulf War, 221 Challenger 1 tanks were deployed to Saudi Arabia. This deployment originally consisted of the 7th Armoured Brigade, consisting of two armoured regiments, the Queen's Royal Irish Hussars and the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, both equipped with 57 of the latest Mark 3 version of the Challenger 1. They were modified for desert operations by a REME team and civilian contractors at the quayside in Al