Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Mongolian Military Museum

Thousands of artifacts tell Mongolia's military history, from the Bronze Age to the present.

From Bronze Age knives to modern hand grenades and from catapults to rocket launchers, this museum delivers when it comes to weapons. It’s stuffed with artifacts detailing Mongolia’s long military history.

The Mongolian Military Museum is divided into four sections and houses around 8,000 items related to the ancient and modern Mongolian army. It was opened in 1996 under the supervision of the Ministry of Defense.

Two sections of the museum are on the ground floor. The first section is dedicated to weapons found in archaeological sites all around the country. You can spot items like bows, arrowheads, axes, and knives from the Bronze Age. Weapons and objects such as armor, horse saddles, and stirrups from later epochs are also collected here. Alongside these artifacts you’ll find reconstructions of other old military items like several swords, two 13th-century uniforms, and a catapult stand.

The second section of the museum is packed with modern weapons from the 20th and 21st centuries. Most of the items are from World War I and World War II and are predominantly Mongolian, but you’ll also spot some Russian, Japanese, and German weapons in the mix as well. There are also numerous portraits of Mongolian military heroes and a cordoned-off area with a painting of Lenin looming over a desk. A section focusing on Mongolia’s post-World War II participation in peacekeeping missions was donated by the United States Embassy.

In the basement is the third section, which by and large is a continuation of the second. The top floor is the most recent addition to the museum and it consists of displays of Mongolian military uniforms from both current and bygone eras. Last but not least, in the yard are some tanks, anti-aircraft guns, armored vehicles, and an MIG fighter plane.