The BRDM obr. 1959 was normally armed with a single 7.62 mm SGMB medium machine gun mounted at the front of the hull for which 1,250 rounds of ammunition were carried. The BRDM-2 obr. 1960 also had mountings for two more 7.62 mm SGMB medium machine guns on the sides of the roof however usually only one machine gun was mounted even though it was possible to mount machine guns in all three mounting points. Later the 12.7 mm DShK 1938/46 heavy machine gun or 14.5 mm KPV heavy machine gun replaced the 7.62 mm SGMB medium machine gun in the front while an additional 7.62 mm SGMB medium machine gun was mounted on the rear. It was still possible to mount the other two 7.62 mm SGMB medium machine guns on the sides of the vehicle.