130:. It is now one of the world's largest tank museums. It began in 1977 under the leadership of Colonel Michel Aubry, who convinced both the French military hierarchy and the local political authorities. Started 47 years ago with only a few hundred tracked vehicles, it has become a world-class collection which attracts visitors interested in the history of multinational tank development as well as professional armor specialists. From the very beginning, Colonel Aubry had made it a key policy of the museum to restore to running condition as many historically or technically significant vehicles as was feasible.
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All experimental French military vehicles where development has been abandoned are kept here. The vast storage rooms are only accessible to special guests. There is an enormous library, archiving the records of the history of French armour. The museum was renamed after
General
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which is entirely dedicated to training armour specialists. The tank museum had its early origins in a study collection. It is still a State institution funded by the Army, but it is managed by the
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which publishes a substantial yearly magazine and encourages membership from the public. There is also a separate traditional horse cavalry museum in the town of Saumur.
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tank still in full working order. It often performs in the spectacular armour demonstration for the public, called the
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are the highlights of this section. Some of these are Iraqi tanks that were captured intact during the first Gulf War.
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The oldest tank in running condition in the world, a
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Armoured vehicles are presented in 11 themed rooms. This section gives the highlights.
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28 well preserved German armored fighting vehicles are shown, including several
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All the main armoured vehicles in service in the French army are presented:
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Four French vehicles are presented, some still in running condition:
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There are some rare items in this section, including the
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This rooms includes some very odd vehicles, such as a
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website of
Russian friends of the museum (in Russian)
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163:Association des Amis du Musée des Blindés
77:Learn how and when to remove this message
159:Armoured Cavalry Branch Training School
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108:("Museum of Armoured Vehicles") or
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145:in Dorset has a larger number of
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636:World War II museums in France
564:Official website of the museum
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631:World War I museums in France
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135:armoured fighting vehicles
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512:Military museum Lešany
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506:Kubinka Tank Museum
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521:Polish Army Museum
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59:introducing
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410:M60 Patton
406:M48 Patton
402:M47 Patton
312:Panzer III
304:Marder III
266:M4 Sherman
236:, Renault
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181:at Saumur.
67:April 2014
593:0°04′15″W
529:- Finland
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418:Leopard 2
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394:Conqueror
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316:Panzer IV
308:Panzer II
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179:Carrousel
155:Carrousel
143:Bovington
553:- Canada
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508:- Russia
483:See also
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324:Tiger II
300:Marder I
278:Crusader
151:Tiger II
496:- India
468:Leclerc
396:), US (
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320:Tiger I
274:Matilda
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262:M3 Lee
248:AMR 33
128:Saumur
124:France
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374:and
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