High-level funeral security in Rome included anti-drone guns, NATO surveillance, and military enforcement, as global dignitaries honored Pope Francis’s legacy.
The late Pope Francis had requested that his funeral be a low-key affair.
Instead, it attracted officials and dignitaries worldwide, including U.S. President Donald Trump, British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, and Britain’s Prince William, standing in for his father, King Charles III. Given such high-profile individuals, the event required unprecedented security, including Italian Air Force fighter jets tasked with enforcing a “no-fly zone,” and an Italian Navy destroyer positioned just off the coast to respond to the threat from missiles!
Thousands of military personnel were present in Rome and Vatican City, some armed with futuristic-looking weapons, namely anti-drone guns, in contrast to the more traditional pikes carried by the famed Swiss Guard.
Drones Overhead Pope Francis’ Funeral
Vatican airspace was locked down, including a blanket ban on all aircraft to prevent airborne threats during the Pope’s funeral. A serious concern was from small hobbyist drones, especially as such unmanned aerial systems (UAS) have been easily converted into competent weapons in Ukraine and the Middle East.
“Drones are everywhere,” technology industry analyst Roger Entner of Recon Analytics emailed The National Interest. “They are cheap, small, easy to disguise, and quickly deployable.“
That also means they could be easily employed as weapons, and the Italian military stepped in to ensure the skies were secure from such threats.
In addition to the Italian Air Force’s fighter jets, a NATO Boeing E-3A airborne warning and control aircraft closely monitored the no-fly zone. The plane was reportedly equipped with anti-drone jamming systems, while Italian Army personnel on the ground were armed with the aforementioned anti-drone guns.
According to the UK’s Telegraph newspaper, at least two versions of anti-drone weapons were spotted near the Vatican. The guns were designed to “block the signal between the controller at a remote location and the drone itself, forcing it to crash to the ground.” The Italian Army personnel declined to say who had supplied the weapons.
“It is a frequency jammer,” one soldier told the British paper of record, adding, “It is a drone killer. If we find a drone, we can jam the signal to the controller and force it to the ground. It drops straight to the ground. The army and the air force use it. We have been practicing with it for a few years now, but never needed to use it.”
Videos of a team of drone hunters have made the rounds on social media, where one soldier scanned the skies with binoculars while a second trooper held the seventeen-pound black weapon, which featured a white plastic plate at the front end.
“Considering the high density of world leaders, it would be professional malfeasance by the Italian authorities not to deploy anti-drone guns,” Recon Analytics’ Entner added.
“In Ukraine, thousands of killer drones are deployed every day. They have become omnipresent on the battlefield. They are an integral part of the everyday tool kit of soldiers and cannot be ignored wherever what some people would consider high value targets are present.”
About the Author: Peter Suciu
Peter Suciu has contributed over 3,200 published pieces to more than four dozen magazines and websites over a thirty-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a Contributing Writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. He is based in Michigan. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu. You can email the author: [email protected].
Image Credit: Shutterstock/ Frederic Legrand – COMEO.
