Starship Troopers

Starship Troopers

Morita Mk I Rifle

• The Morita rifle is used by Rico and all the other Mobile Infantry soldiers. The full sized Morita MK I is built around the Ruger Mini-14/AC-556 rifles with with an underslung Ithaca 37 shotgun doubling as a grenade launcher. The Ruger AC556 used is housed in a modified Muzzelite MZ-14 bullpup stock. The Full Sized rifle has the short barreled Ithaca Model 37 mounted underneath the barrel. For convenience, a majority of the Ithacas were actually metal mockups with working slides, with only the real Ithaca being used in a scene with it firing.).

Johnny Rico (Casper Van Dien) and Ace Levy (Jake Busey) level their Morita Rifles at a flying bug.

Johnny Rico (Casper Van Dien) and Dizzy Flores (Dina Meyer) fight with their Morita Rifles.

An impressive lineup of Morita Rifles. Either the shot is reversed or all the actors are aiming their rifles "Southpaw" or Left handed.

Front detail of Ricos' Morita Rifle

Example of the large flash from the Morita Rifle

Closeup of the Ruger AC556 Action in the shell of the Morita Rifle. Note the spent shell casings as the AC556 fires full automatic

The only instance where we see the underslung Ithaca Model 37 Shotgun being fired, is by Rico when he is wounded. Is it supposed to be a grenade launcher (like in Aliens?) we may never know, however, the effect isn't much better than a 12 gauge would perform.

Morita MK I Carbine

• The shorter Morita Carbine is carried by NCOs, fleet pilots and officers. It is the same Ruger AC556 based Muzzelite Custom stocked rifle as the full sized Morita, except that it is shorter and missing the Ithaca Model 37 shotgun.

Roughneck Leader, Lt. Jean Rasczak (Michael Ironside) uses a Morita Carbine

Lt. Jean Rasczak (Michael Ironside) uses a Morita Carbine to fire down at the bugs.

Fleet Pilot Zander Barcalow (Patrick Muldoon) uses a Morita Carbine during the rescue.

Fleet officers Carmen Ibanez (Denise Richards) and Zander Barcalow (Patrick Muldoon) are trapped in the caves, using Morita carbines to defend themselves. Note the incredible flash that the .223 blanks generate in low light conditions.

Morita Mk I Sniper Rifle

• The Morita Sniper Rifle is merely a Morita with a large multi use Scope. It was used by Pt. Watkins (Seth Gilliam) on Planet P. It is the same basic weapon with the addition of an advanced scope capable of tracking and zooming in on a target.

Pvt. Sugar Watkins (Seth Gilliam) aims his Morita Sniper in the Badlands.

Pvt. Sugar Watkins (Seth Gilliam) covered in Bug goo watches a battle.

Lt. Jean Rasczak (Michael Ironside) takes Watkin's rifle and shoots his RTO who has been taken by the bugs.

MK55 Tactical Nuclear Launcher

• The Mini-Nuke Launcher (called by some, the MK55 Tactical Nuclear Launcher) is a small man portable nuclear missile launcher that comes with a suitcase outfitted with six portable nuclear missiles. Each missile must be assembled from two pieces and armed prior to front loading into the launcher. It is used by the Troops on Klendathu to take out the Plasma bugs and Rico uses it to Destroy the bugs coming out of the tunnel. What is interesting is that the 'loaders' go out of their way to tap the helmet of the firing soldier (several times "blocking" the firer's field of view), but unlike the M1 "Bazooka" the MK55 is not loaded from the rear, but from the front, so the firing soldier can clearly see that it's loaded. The loader doesn't have to tap the firer's helmet, but the director was mimicking all things World War II at this point.

Note: Different sources call it different things. The original armorer just called it "the rocket launcher", but that name is just banal. For lack of a better name, the term "MK 55 Tactical Nuclear Launcher", the name ascribed to the collectible toy replica of the weapon, will be used.

Johnny Rico (Casper Van Dien) with a MK55 Launcher

Dizzy Flores (Dina Meyer) helps Rico load his MK55 Launcher

Johnny Rico (Casper Van Dien) with a MK55 Launcher

MX-90 Hand Grenade

• The MX-90 resembles an standard grenade but packs a big punch. It is used by Dizzy on Planet P and by Rico in the badlands. One can ready the grenade two ways. By pushing the red button, the spoon flies and you have the standard 3-5 second delay before explosion. Or you can remove the spoon and delay pushing the red button. Then when you push the red button, the grenade is on hold until you release. In theory (courtesy Hand Prop room).

Johnny Rico (Casper Van Dien) MX-90 Hand Grenades in his web gear.

Flipping the spoon on a MX-90 Hand Grenade is too easy, just push the red button.

Dizzy Flores (Dina Meyer) pulls the spoon off of the MX-90 Hand Grenade with her teeth.

Morita MK II Advanced Systems Rifle

• The new improved battle rifle of the Mobile Infantry is shown at the end of the movie is shown destroying the top of a hill in a large explosion.

Trooper aims a Morita MK II Advanced Systems Rifle

Fake DShK Heavy Machine Guns

The twin heavy machine guns at Whiskey Outpost on Planet P were Fake Soviet era DShK heavy machine guns. These were Browning M2HB .50 cal machine guns that were outfitted with modified DShK barrels. The barrels have been available for some time, but the guns have not made it into the chain of commerce in the U.S. Most of the Russian DShK Machine guns seen in films are these modified Browning M2 .50 cal guns with original Soviet barrels attached.