Military museum Lešany

Coordinates: 49°51′18″N 14°32′38″E / 49.855°N 14.544°E / 49.855; 14.544

The Military Technical Museum Lešany
The famous pink IS-2 at the entrance to the museum
Location of the museum within Czech Republic
Established	1996
Location	Between the villages of Krhanice and Lešany, Czech Republic
Type	Military Museum
Website	www.vhu.cz

The Military Technical Museum Lešany is a museum of military vehicles located in the Czech Republic about 20 kilometers south of Prague. It's exposition contains over 700^[1] historic tanks, cannons, motorcycles, armored vehicles, trucks, military passenger vehicles, missile systems and other military equipment manufactured in the period from 1890 up to present.

History and presentation

A former Jordanian Chieftain tank during 8th 'Tank Day' at the dynamic display arena.

The Museum was established in 1996 in the former artillery barracks between the villages of Krhanice and Lešany, near Týnec nad Sázavou. The collections are presented in 9 small halls, 6 roofed areas and also in the open air. Since 2003, there's so called 'Tank Day' held every year at the end of the season (usually end of August/beginning of September) in the area of the museum, where many of the tanks and other military vehicles from the museum's collection are presented in dynamic displays. Army of the Czech Republic is also participating in these events therefore the current military equipment of the Czech Army can be also seen on displays. There are also events at the beginning of every season (in May) which are usually dedicated to other branches of ground equipment, like "Artillery day", "AAA day", "Tatra day", etc.

The Collection

Pre-war time

• featuring for example: MU-4 tankette, Strv m/37, Praga RV, Tatra 27

Axis WWII

• featuring for example: Panzer 35(t), Panzer 38(t), Panzer IV, Hetzer, Krupp Protze, HORCH 108, VW type 82 Kübelwagen, Steyer 1500 A, Stoewer R 200, Tempo G1200, SPA TL 37, SdKfz 2 Kettenkrad, BMW R-35, 15cm Nebelwerfer 41, LG 42, Tatra 111, Tatra 57K, Škoda 956, 8.8 cm FlaK, 7.5 cm Pak 97/38, 15 cm sFH 18

Allies WWII

• featuring for example: M4A1 Sherman, M4A3 Sherman, M36 Jackson, Cromwell, Comet, T-34/76, T-34/85, IS-2, IS-3, SU-76, SU-100, ISU-152, GMC CCKW 353, Harley-Davidson WLA, Dodge WC-52, Dodge WC-54, Dodge WC-57, M3A1 Scout Car, M16 MGMC, Ford GPW, Humber Scout Car, Bedford MWC, Universal Carrier, Morris Commercial C8 Quad, Scammell Pioneer SV2S, Austin K6, Bedford QLT, BM-13, BA-64B, GAZ-67B, Stalinetz S-65, ZiS-3, QF 25 pounder

Cold War: Warsaw Pact

• featuring for example: T-54, T-55, PT-76, T-72, 2S1 Gvozdika, 2S4 Tyulpan, 2S7 Pion, 152mm SpGH DANA, ZSU-57-2, BMP-1, BMP-2, BTR-50, BTR-60, OT-64 SKOT, OT-65, ShM-120 PRAM, BM-21 Grad, RM-51, RM-70, SA-4 Ganef, SA-8 Gecko, SA-9 Gaskin, FROG-7, SS-23 Spider, SS-1c SCUD-B, SS-21 Scarab, 9P148 Konkurs, 9P19 launcher, SA-5 Gammon, R-330P, KRTP-86 Tamara, GAZ-46 MAV, Praga V3S, UAZ-469, ZIL 131, Tatra 805, Tatra 813

Cold War: NATO

• featuring for example: Centurion, Chieftain, M47 Patton, M48 Patton, M60 Patton, Merkava Mk.I, Leopard 1, Alvis Saracen, Ferret Mk.2/3, DAF YA 126, M561 Gama Goat, Unimog S404, DKW Munga, Dodge M37, M151 MUTT

Modern

• featuring for example: T-72M4CZ, HMMWV, Toyota Hilux SCV

Gallery

• 

  British Bedford MWC water tanker

• 

  Czechoslovakian LT-38 tank

• 

  Swedish Strv m/37 tank

• 

  German Jagdpanzer 38(t) tank destroyer

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  Soviet IS-3 heavy tank

• 

  Greek Leopard 1V tank

• 

  Greek M60A1 Patton tank

• 

  Israeli Merkava Mk.IB tank

See also

Tank museums

• Bovington Tank Museum — United Kingdom
• Kubinka Tank Museum — Russia
• Musée des Blindés — France
• Deutsches Panzermuseum — Germany
• Patton Museum of Cavalry and Armor — United States
• Yad La-Shiryon - Israel
• Parola Tank Museum - Finland

References

1. ^ The official museum website (Czech)