(Starship Troopers) - Morita Rifle Series

The Morita rifle series is a series of fictional weapons created for the Starship Troopers series, with obvious influence from the M41A Pulse Rifle from 1986's Aliens.

The Morita rifle series and variants can be seen in the following films, television series, video games, and anime used by the following actors:

Morita Mk I Rifle

Morita Mk I Rifle; this example is missing the M60-style muzzle brake fitted to the rifle barrel.

The full-sized Morita rifle is used by Mobile Infantry standard/enlisted soldiers with the Morita Carbine being carried by fleet pilots and officers (see below). The weapons themselves are built around Ruger AC556 rifles with the full-size rifles also containing an underslung short-barreled Ithaca 37 shotgun. The weapons utilize a modified Muzzelite MZ14 Bullpup stock to house the Ruger AC-556 rifles and the Ithaca 37 shotguns (for the Morita rifle only). The Morita rifles and carbines in the film also feature a muzzle brake from the M60 machine gun. According to Rock Galotti, who worked on the weapon props for the film, the Morita was supposed to have a digital ammo counter and iron sights through holes in the carry handle, but they were unable to be included due to time and budget constraints.[1]

Title	Actor	Character	Date
Starship Troopers	Casper Van Dien	Johnny Rico	1997
	Jake Busey	Ace Levy
	Dina Meyer	Dizzy Flores
	Various Actors	Mobile Infantry troops

Morita Mk I Carbine

Morita Mk I Carbine.

A shortened version of the Morita Rifle that is issued to Federation Pilots, as well as Officers and Senior NCOs of the Mobile Infantry (also known as the "Hero Carbine"). It is the same Ruger AC556-based Muzzelite Custom stocked rifle as the full sized Morita, except that it contains a shorter barrel and forend without the Ithaca 37 shotgun.

Title	Actor	Character	Date
Starship Troopers	Michael Ironside	Jean Rasczak	1997
	Casper Van Dien	Johnny Rico
	Patrick Muldoon	Zander Barcalow
	Denise Richards	Carmen Ibanez
	Steven Ford	Lt. Willy

Morita Mk I Sniper Rifle

Morita Mk I Scoped Sniper Rifle.

A full-size Morita Rifle with a large multitask scope. It is the same basic weapon with the addition of an advanced scope capable of tracking and zooming in on a target.

Title	Actor	Character	Date
Starship Troopers	Michael Ironside	Jean Rasczak	1997
	Seth Gilliam	'Sugar' Walkins

Morita MK II Advanced Systems Rifle

Trooper aims a Morita MK II Advanced Systems Rifle

The new improved battle rifle of the Mobile Infantry is shown at the end of the movie, destroying the top of a hill in a large explosion. Unlike the first model, this has no live firearm housed inside. It is a completely fabricated prop, made out of vacuum-formed plastics, aluminum, and resin.

Title	Actor	Character	Date
Starship Troopers			1997

Morita Mk III

In Starship Troopers 3: Marauder, the Mobile Infantry has adopted the Morita Mk. III. The rifle bears a resemblance to the Objective Individual Combat Weapon, complete with "over-slung" grenade launcher and a long scope that ends in a flashlight(!). The weapon itself is actually a Vektor R5 assault rifle, a South African variant of the Galil assault rifle, housed in a very bulky-looking gun mold. As a nod to Aliens and the M41A Pulse Rifle, it canonically chambers a 10x50mm caseless cartridge (although the M41A uses a smaller 10x24mm cartridge) and feeds from a 99-round magazine.

Title	Actor	Character	Date
Starship Troopers 3: Marauder	Casper Van Dien	Colonel Johnny Rico	2008
	Jolene Blalock	Capt. Lola Beck