Technical readouts

These are the technical info about what all was seen in the movies. Everything from the company Weyland Yutani up to and including the weaponry will be put in this document. If you have any additions, I would sure like to have them! Mail them to:

Vos@Dutiws.TWI.TUDelft.NL

Weyland Yutani

The symbols beneath the WY logo are pronounced "Weyland Yutani kabushiki-kaisha" and mean "Weyland Yutani joint-stock corporation".

Weyland Yutani is 'the company' in Alien, Aliens and Alien3. It is a multinational/multiplanetal cooperation, and into a lot of business.

First of all, it has a department that takes care of shipment. In Alien, Ripley and her crew were transporting 20,000 millions tons of mineral ore. The Nostromo, the ship they were in, was property of 'the company'. This ship was transporting this ore from a planet that most likely was also exploited by Weyland Yutani. But then again, maybe Weyland Yutani wasn't that big way back then.

Second, Weyland Yutani is into 'Building Worlds'. It puts planetary engineers on planets to maintain machineries that make the air 'breathable'. These engineers, also known as 'terraformers', move to the specific planet with their entire family. They call these kinds of colonies "shake-'n'-bake" colonies.

Thirdly, they have divisions that concern themselves over national/planetal security. They have soldiers that are trained by the company too. Besides that they also have full combat equipment from handguns to nuclear weaponry. They provide even the spaceships to transport those weapons and people. These guys can be seen in Alien3, at the end. The marines in Aliens were NO Weyland Yutani people. They were government soldiers.

Some divisions mentioned, though probably not Weyland Yutani, but government agencies are:

InterStellar Commerce Commision
Colonial Administration
Extrasolar Colonization Administration

People who work for the company are, for instance:

Van Leuwen, the main inquisitor during Ripley's hearing in Aliens
Per movie:

Alien
Everyone
Aliens
Burke, some people in the meeting room,
The people working on LV-426 (including Newt),
Bishop was made by Weyland Yutani, though he is considered military equipment.
Alien3
Clemens, Andrews, Aaron ('85'),
the team that picks up Ripley at the end of Alien3. The prisoners on Furi-161 probably were judged by the government, and sentenced to a far off jail on Fiorina 161. This prison was built by Weyland Yutani, as you can see many times in Alien3. The logo is everywhere.

The marines in Aliens were not Weyland Yutani's. They were sent there by the government (see also the patches they wear). Weyland Yutani probably has some sort of contract with the government to build atmosphere processors on LV-426. The exploration of the universe is probably done by the government, so they have to protect their colonies by sending in the marines whenever contact is lost.

Nostromo

The Nostromo was an M-class interstellar freighter, carrying 20,000 tons mineral ore. It is steered by 'Mother', the computer that controls almost anything on the ship. Mother has a terminal room, on which is it possible to enter any kind of commands, even in a natural language (English).
However, in the book "Alien", the Nostromo is just a space-going tugboat. And it is not towing ore, but rather petrolium.
According to the book, in the future Earth has become independant of fossil fuels (largely due to the total depleation of petrolium reserves). However, petrolium based products are still needed.
Therefore, petrolium, or at least something like it, is available on other planets. The Nostromo was towing a load of off-world petrolium in an automated refinery so that by the time they got how the petrolium would be refined into whatever end product.
More about the Nostromo

*still under revision*

Dropship (NEW!)

Click here to get a document about the UD-4 'Cheyenne' dropship.

APC

Equipped with 20mm automatic robot gun

auto-targetting
fires 20mm depleted uranium slugs

More info to come on this vehicle.

*under revision*

EEV

Technical info about the emergency escape vehicle.

Weaponry

Model no. M-41A assult rifle

fires:

10mm caseless, armor piercing, explosive tip
Though, if you listen closely, you can hear that they fire regular bullets. The pulse rifles in Alien3 do not sound the same. Only the special bullets in Aliens could make that weird bullet noise
30mm grenades from an under-the-barrel, pump action grenade

More information about the M-41A Pulse Rifles can be obtained HERE.

Launcher

equipped with a digital bullet counter
a 95 round clip

Smartgun

According to the weapons section of the special edition laserdisk, the mounted guns Vasquez and Drake used are "smart". That is, the eye-piece you see them use has an image where the helmet cam is pointed. This helmet cam also displays a cross-hair where the gun is pointed so I guess its kinda smart in that you always know where your shooting.
More information about the Smart Gun can be obtained HERE.

Flamethrowers

Incinerator unit- probably rigged from spare parts on the Nostromo, this fire-breathing weapon was the crew's main weapon in Alien besides the cattle prod. It has two tanks at the bottom and the fuel may be either compressed gas or flamable fluid. It wasn't an assault rifle, but it got the job done.
Military FlameThrower- An M-16 like body with a blue thorch flame at the end. This guy doesn't go out when the wind gets rough! Probably holds more fuel than the one in Alien, reloads faster, and probably has better range and accuracy.

More information about the Flamthrowers can be obtained HERE.

AP Hand Grenade

AP Hand Grenade- Like the regular hand grenades of today, the AP grenade has only a few variations:

It is cylinderlike in shape
It has a hard plastic safety cap covering the detonator

The AP grenade is smaller, more, compact, and does more damage compared to regular U.S. Army pineapple grenades.

Plasma Cutter

Like a portable welder/torch with the heat of a star, the plasma cutter can cut through almost anything or weld almost anything. An example of the use of this tool is the scene in Aliens where Ripley and Hicks cut through the grating to get to Newt.

Power Loader

The power-loader, designed by James Cameron, is a futuristc forklift. Using two joystick controls, the operator maneuvers two eight foot long arms to hydraulically transport heavy cargo materials.
Once an object is lifted, the operator moves by walking, thus activating the hydraulics in the legs of the loader.
Carefully placed counterweights keep the device from becoming unbalanced.

Anyone who has any commments or additions on/for this document, send some EMail to: