Parola Tank Museum, officially ''Armoured Vehicle Museum'' ( Finnish ''Panssarimuseo'') is a

military museum Military Museum may refer to museums of military and war, or specific museums including: * Aldershot Military Museum, in Aldershot, England * Athens War Museum, in Athens, Greece * Base Borden Military Museum, Borden, Ontario, Canada * California ...

located 110 kilometres north of Helsinki in

Parola Parola is an urban area in the municipality of Hattula in Finland. It is located 110 kilometres north of Helsinki. Cities nearby include Hämeenlinna, Tampere, Lahti and Forssa. Many Finnish young men know Parola because of their 6 to 12 mont ...

, near

Hämeenlinna Hämeenlinna (; sv, Tavastehus; krl, Hämienlinna; la, Tavastum or ''Croneburgum'') is a city and municipality of about inhabitants in the heart of the historical province of Tavastia and the modern province of Kanta-Häme in the south of F ...

, Finland, a few kilometres from the Finnish Army Armoured Brigade training unit. It displays various

tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engin ...

s, armoured vehicles and

anti-tank gun An anti-tank gun is a form of artillery designed to destroy tanks and other armored fighting vehicles, normally from a static defensive position. The development of specialized anti-tank munitions and anti-tank guns was prompted by the appearance ...

s used by the

Finnish Defence Forces The Finnish Defence Forces ( fi, Puolustusvoimat, sv, Försvarsmakten) are the military of Finland. The Finnish Defence Forces consist of the Finnish Army, the Finnish Navy and the Finnish Air Force. In wartime the Finnish Border Guard (which i ...

throughout their history, including their latest

Leopard 2 The Leopard 2 is a 3rd generation main battle tank originally developed by Krauss-Maffei in the 1970s for the West German army. The tank first entered service in 1979 and succeeded the earlier Leopard 1 as the main battle tank of the West Germ ...

A4 tank. A rare exhibit is an armoured train used in World War II. The museum was opened on June 18, 1961, when there were 19 tanks and 12 anti-tank guns on display.

Full list of vehicles

Renault FT-17 The Renault FT (frequently referred to in post-World War I literature as the FT-17, FT17, or similar) was a French light tank that was among the most revolutionary and influential tank designs in history. The FT was the first production tank to h ...

* Vickers-Carden-Loyd *

Vickers 6-ton The Vickers 6-ton tank or Vickers Mark E, also known as the "Six-tonner" was a British light tank designed as a private project at Vickers. It was not adopted by the British Army, but was picked up by many foreign armed forces. It was license ...

* T-26 * T-28 * T-50 *

T-60 The T-60 scout tank was a light tank produced by the Soviet Union from 1941 to 1942. During this period, 6,292 units were built. The tank was designed to replace the obsolete T-38 amphibious scout tank and saw action during World War II. The Kin ...

T-70 The T-70 was a light tank used by the Red Army during World War II, replacing both the T-60 scout tank for reconnaissance and the T-50 light infantry tank for infantry support. The T-80 light tank was a more advanced version of the T-70 with a ...

* BT-42 *

T-34 The T-34 is a Soviet medium tank introduced in 1940. When introduced its 76.2 mm (3 in) tank gun was less powerful than its contemporaries while its 60-degree sloped armour provided good protection against Anti-tank warfare, anti-tan ...

T-34-85 The T-34 is a Soviet medium tank introduced in 1940. When introduced its 76.2 mm (3 in) tank gun was less powerful than its contemporaries while its 60-degree sloped armour provided good protection against anti-tank weapons. The Chri ...

* JSU-152 *

KV-1 The Kliment Voroshilov (KV) tanks are a series of Soviet heavy tanks named after the Soviet defence commissar and politician Kliment Voroshilov who operated with the Red Army during World War II. The KV tanks were known for their heavy armour pro ...

* KV-1E * BA-20M *

BA-10 The BA-10 ( ru , Broneavtomobil 10, italic=yes) was an armored car developed in the Soviet Union in 1938 and produced through 1941. It was the most produced Soviet pre-1941 heavy armored car – 3311 were built in three versions. These versio ...

* T-20 Komsomolets *

T-54 The T-54 and T-55 tanks are a series of Soviet main battle tanks introduced in the years following the World War II, Second World War. The first T-54 prototype was completed at Nizhny Tagil by the end of 1945.Steven Zaloga, T-54 and T-55 Mai ...

* T-55M * T-72M1 * ZSU-57-2 *

BTR-50 The BTR-50 (BTR stands for ''Bronetransporter'' (БТР, Бронетранспортер), literally "armored transporter") is a Soviet amphibious armored personnel carrier (APC) based on the PT-76 light tank. The BTR-50 is tracked, unlike mos ...

* BTR-60 * BTR-80 * BMP-1 * PT-76 *

Leopard 2A4 The Leopard 2 is a 3rd generation main battle tank originally developed by Krauss-Maffei in the 1970s for the West German army. The tank first entered service in 1979 and succeeded the earlier Leopard 1 as the main battle tank of the West Germ ...

* StuG ''III Ausf. G'' *

Panzerkampfwagen IV The ''Panzerkampfwagen'' IV (Pz.Kpfw. IV), commonly known as the ''Panzer'' IV, was a Nazi Germany, German medium tank developed in the late 1930s and used extensively during the World War II, Second World War. Its ordnance inventory designation ...

FAMO FAMO, short for Fahrzeug- und Motoren-Werke (''Automobile and Engine Works'') was a German vehicle manufacturer in the early 20th century. Products *Sd.Kfz. 9: Heavy half-track used by German forces in World War II; some were also produced by Vo ...

Daimler Ferret The Ferret armoured car, also commonly called the Ferret scout car, is a British armoured fighting vehicle designed and built for reconnaissance purposes. The Ferret was produced between 1952 and 1971 by the UK company Daimler. It was widely ...

* Sisu armoured car * Humber "Pig" * M2 White * Landsverk Anti II *

M4 Sherman } The M4 Sherman, officially Medium Tank, M4, was the most widely used medium tank by the Military history of the United States during World War II, United States and Allies of World War II, Western Allies in World War II. The M4 Sherman prove ...

* Patria AMV * Patria AMV AMOS * MT-LB * Charioteer *

Comet A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that, when passing close to the Sun, warms and begins to release gases, a process that is called outgassing. This produces a visible atmosphere or coma, and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena ar ...

* Armoured train

Light tanks

File:Ft17 parola 2.jpg,

Renault FT The Renault FT (frequently referred to in post-World War I literature as the FT-17, FT17, or similar) was a French light tank that was among the most revolutionary and influential tank designs in history. The FT was the first production tank to ...

light tank (1917) File:Vickers_parola_1.jpg, Finnish

tank with 37mm Bofors gun File:Vickers 45mm parola 1.jpg, Finnish

tank (T-26E). This was upgunned during World War II with a captured Soviet 45 mm gun in a T-26 turret. File:T26 parola 2.jpg, T-26, Ps.163-16 File:T26 parola 4.jpg, T-26, Ps.163-33 File:T50 parola 1.jpg, Soviet T-50 File:T60 parola 1.jpg, Soviet

File:T70 Parola Tank Museum 2.jpg, Soviet

Medium tanks

File:T28 parola 1.jpg, Soviet-made T-28E captured by the

File:Panzer IV Ausf J Parola 2.jpg,

Ausf. J with Finnish roundel 1945-. Imported from Germany during WW2 File:Parola Armoured Vehicle Museum Hattula Finland Hall2.jpg, Finnish

Heavy tanks

File:T72 Parola Finland 1.jpg, Finnish

T-72 The T-72 is a family of Soviet/Russian main battle tanks that entered production in 1969. The T-72 was a development of the T-64, which was troubled by high costs and its reliance on immature developmental technology. About 25,000 T-72 tanks ha ...

M1, Ps 284-202 File:Kv1e m1941 parola 1.jpg, Finnish

Special tanks

* ZSU-57-2 anti-aircraft gun

Assault guns

File:Bt42 parola 2.jpg, Finnish BT-42 assault gun, a modification of the Soviet

BT-7 The BT-7 BT (russian: БТ) is the Russian abbreviation for "fast tank" (, ). was the last of the BT series of Soviet cavalry tanks that were produced in large numbers between 1935 and 1940. It was lightly armoured, but reasonably well-armed for ...

File:BT-42 Parola tank museum.jpg, BT-42 from another angle File:Stug III parola 1.jpg, Sturmgeschütz III Ausf. G

Armoured cars

File:Ba10 parola 1.jpg, Captured Soviet

in Finnish markings, registered as Ps.27-12 File:Ba20 parola 1.jpg, Captured Soviet

BA-20 The BA-20 (russian: Broneavtomobil 20, italic=yes) was an armored car developed in the Soviet Union in 1934. It was intended to replace the FAI and its field trials were completed in 1935. The BA-20 was then used in the early stages of World Wa ...

in Finnish markings, registered as Ps.6-11 File:Humber pig parola 1.jpg,

Humber Pig The Humber Pig is a lightly armoured truck used by the British Army from the 1950s until the early 1990s. The Pig saw service with the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) chiefly as an armoured personnel carrier from late 1958 until early 1970. Th ...

Infantry fighting vehicles

File:Finnish BMP1 Parola 2.jpg, BMP-1

Modern vehicles

File:XA-360 Parola Tank Museum June 2012.jpg,

XA-360 The Patria AMV (Armored Modular Vehicle) is an 8×8 multi-role military vehicle produced by the Finnish defence industry company Patria. The main feature of the AMV is its modular design, which allows the incorporation of different turrets, weapo ...

References

{{Commons, Parola Tank Museum Military and war museums in Finland Museums established in 1961 Hattula Tank museums Museums in Kanta-Häme