BRDM-1

The BRDM-1 (Bronirovannaya Razvedyvatelnaya Dozornaya Mashina – "Armored Reconnaissance/Patrol Vehicle") was the first purpose-built Soviet amphibious reconnaissance vehicle. It entered service in 1957. The vehicle had a crew of 4 and was armed with either a 7.62 mm SGMB machine gun (in early variants) or a 12.7 mm DShK heavy machine gun in a small turret (in later variants). Armor thickness ranged from 6 to 14 mm, enough to protect against small arms fire and shell splinters. It was powered by a GAZ-40P 6-cylinder gasoline engine producing 90 hp, allowing a top road speed of 80 km/h and up to 10 km/h in water. It had a range of around 600 km.

---