- "Everything you need for a party."
- ―Draco Double Burner description (from Aliens/Predator Collectible Card Game)
The Draco Double Burner[2] was an incredibly versatile multi-mode weapon used by the United Systems Military in the 24th century. Uniquely, it could function as an assault rifle, a grenade launcher or a flamethrower.[3]
Overview[]
The Draco Double Burner is primarily designed as a military assault rifle. However, the weapon can also operate as a grenade launcher or flamethrower, firing a stream of liquid fuel,[3] allowing it to be utilized in any number of combat situations and giving it a level of versatility few other weapons systems possess. Like the venerable M41A Pulse Rifle, the Draco features an LCD ammunition counter on the exterior of the weapon, allowing the user to quickly ascertain the amount of ammunition remaining within.
Larger and more powerful than the other rifle used by the USM, the Lacrima 99 Shockrifle, the Draco extends to more than three feet in length.[4]
History[]
Draco Double Burners were notably used by the crew of the USM Auriga in 2381,[5] to combat the Cloned Xenomorphs that escaped and infested the ship. Several members of the Betty crew appropriated Dracos from fallen USM soldiers and used them as they attempted to flee the infested vessel.
Later that year, retired USM Colonel Chris Temple made use of a Draco Double Burner while escaping from Mining Colony Omega Seven Tango on the planet LV-1213.
Behind the scenes[]
All of the USM weaponry in Alien Resurrection was designed by the movie's production designer Nigel Phelps.[6] In contrast to the fictional weapons that had appeared previously in the film series, the props were not built around any existing firearms but were fabricated completely from scratch. In fact, the prop Dracos contained no genuine firearm components whatsoever, meaning that the rifle element of the weapon was incapable of firing blank ammunition. Instead, some of the weapons were able to fire pyrotechnic charges that simulated gunfire on set. In the larger rifle weapons, these charges were loaded into an electrically-operated rotating drum, similar to a revolver, hidden within the weapon. A separate Draco prop that acted as a working flamethrower was fed from an external fuel source via cables that attached to the rear of the stock. The Draco props were made mostly from machined aluminum.
The weapon's multiple modes are used by various characters throughout the film — Johner is seen using both the grenade launcher mode (to kill a Xenomorph during the underwater scene) and the assault rifle mode (to kill the Chestburster that erupts from Purvis), while Ripley 8 notably uses the weapon's flamethrower mode to torch the failed Ripley clones.
In the 2024 novel Alien: Uncivil War, the Draco Double Burner is incorrectly described as a pulse rifle.
Although far more Lacrima 99 Shockrifles are seen being used by USM soldiers aboard the Auriga in Alien Resurrection, the images of the props found on the bonus disc of the Alien Anthology Blu-ray box set erroneously indicate that the Draco was "The primary rifle used on the Auriga".
Appearances[]
Gallery[]
Behind the scenes[]
References[]
- ↑ Aliens/Predator Collectible Card Game trading cards — Alien Resurrection Expansion Set — 32. Draco Double Burner (1997), HarperPrism.
- ↑ S. D. Perry. Alien: The Weyland-Yutani Report, p. 150 (2014), Insight Editions.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Joss Whedon (writer), Jean-Pierre Jeunet (director). Alien Resurrection (1997), 20th Century Fox [DVD].
- ↑ Alien Anthology - The Anthology Archives - Alien Resurrection - Production - Photography - Production Image Galleries - Production Props: Weapons
- ↑ S. D. Perry. Alien: The Weyland-Yutani Report, p. 9 (2014), Insight Editions.
- ↑ Andrew Murdock, Rachel Aberly. The Making of Alien Resurrection, p. 108 (1997), HarperPrism.
- ↑ "Trade Cards Online - Draco Double Burner". Retrieved on 2013-10-09.