Jordan's new Royal Tank Museum gives a glimpse into the stormy military history of the country and the region with displays of Nazi tanks used in North Africa and Jordanian tanks painted to look like Syrian tanks used in the 1973 October War in the Golan Heights. The first of its kind in the Arab world, the museum is located near Amman and stretches over 20,000 square meters (5 acres). A warehouse-type structure, the museum showcases 110 tanks and armored vehicles.

The museum is the result of a royal decree issued by King Abdullah II in 2007. Abdullah is the supreme commander of the Jordan Armed Forces-Arab Army (JAF) and has had a personal affinity for tanks since his childhood. He desired a unique museum showcasing the history of tanks.

Arranged into nine sections, the museum gallery takes its visitors on a tour through global and regional conflicts from World War I to wars between Israel and its Arab neighbors in the Golan Heights, Jordan and Jerusalem. A Cobra attack helicopter dangles by a cord from the ceiling with a Stuart tank beneath it. Both were the king's property after he graduated from the prestigious Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in the United Kingdom. Abdullah took up various positions in the JAF.

For an entry fee of around $3, the state-of-the-art space includes touch-screen technology and an audio tour as well as guided tours. Soon, visitors can take a ride in a tank on terrain outside, albeit in slightly more comfortable conditions than the cramped space that the soldiers had to endure.