The choice to keep it belt-fed only was made to lighten the weapon and make it less complex than a dual-feed model, allowing the troops in the field to top off spent belts as a trade-off for not accepting standard-issue assault rifle magazines.

[3] Russian (at the time Soviet) military forces have not fielded a squad-level, intermediate caliber, belt-fed machine gun since the retirement of the RPD in the early 1960s.

The weapon's magazine feed system, light weight, and fixed barrel made it excellent for one-man operation, but also hampered its ability to provide continuous suppressive fire.

[5] As the Soviet military moved from the 7.62×39 mm round to the 5.45×39 mm cartridge for its rifles and light machine guns, it considered adopting a dual-feed light machine gun in the new caliber to replace the RPK, similar to the FN Minimi then being introduced in Western armies.

The PKM was lighter than its predecessor, at 7.5 kg, making it even easier to issue the weapon to squad machine gunners as necessary.

The MVD solicited designs for a similar weapon beginning in 2011, for use by counter-terror teams, though it did not follow through with any actual orders.