Movie Weapon Of The Day: Cobra Assault Cannon

Our movie weapon of the day is the much sought after Cobra Assault Cannon (state of the art, bang bang!).  The weapon appears twice in movie history, first in RoboCop and again in RoboCop 2.

Version 1.0

Appears in the original movie and is used to devastating effect.  Supposedly the weapon is a prototype coming in from the OCP military R&D division.  Clarence Boddicker and his crew are given access to multiple Cobras.  The weapon itself is an early Barrett .50 M82 (see Barrett .50 in movies), with some type of futuristic optics.  Those were originally scripted to be shown ‘in sight’ using special effects, but budget constraints meant they were cut.  The weapon uses apparent incendiary rounds in the movie.

Version 2.0

The Cobra Assault Cannon appears again in RoboCop 2, this time minus muzzle brake and optics.  However this time the weapon is not a Barrett .50 but a Pauza P50.  This weapon is used multiple times throughout the movie, mostly by Cain’s crew.  Near the finale the weapon is used by RoboCop to temporarily disrupt Cain’s cyborg.

Interestingly there is a goof with RoboCop 2 with this.  The gun itself, in the story, is apparently a refined or stripped version of the original, either that or they just picked another .50 rifle that looked somewhat similar for production.  When RoboCop has it at the end of the movie, it’s the Cobra Assault Cannon.  But at the start of the movie during the gunstore raid, the thieves pull it from a ‘Pauza Specialties’ cabinet.  So there is a little narrative conflict there as far as manufacturers go.