The truth behind the huge "futuristic" firearms seen at Pope Francis' funeral has been revealed.
The Argentine pontiff, who sadly died on Easter Monday at the age of 88 after a 12-year papacy, was honoured with a funeral mass at St Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican on Saturday (April 26).
The Vatican confirmed Pope Francis’ passing, stating he died from a stroke that led to a coma and irreversible heart failure.
With religious leaders, royals, presidents, prime ministers, and hundreds of thousands of mourners in attendance, security at the pope's farewell was a critical and complex operation.
Images and videos of security forces carrying massive, intense-looking firearms quickly drew attention across social media.
A clip posted on X (formerly Twitter) by Argentine journalist Elisabetta Piqué, and later reshared with the question of what kind of weapon was being carried, gained more than five million views.
One X user joked: "What’s he doing with that? Jet washing all the Limos that are rocking up?"
"Straight out of Halo," another quipped referencing the popular video game, while another called it a "Space Ray gun modulator".
In fact, the "futuristic" weapons seen in the footage are Counter-Unmanned Aerial Systems (C-UAS), more commonly known as anti-drone guns. These devices can disrupt signals between a drone and its operator, causing the small unmanned aircraft to land or crash, per News.com.au.
An Italian soldier speaking to British newspaper The Telegraph described one version of the anti-drone gun as being black with a white plastic plate at the front and weighing about seven to eight kilograms.
He explained the "drone killer" was "a frequency jammer," and noted he was accompanied by another soldier using binoculars to look out for aerial threats.
"It is used by the army and the air force. We have been practising with it for a few years now but never needed to use it," the soldier said.
A no-fly zone was enforced over the Vatican area by NATO fighter jets to protect the event. Additional layers of security included snipers positioned on rooftops, helicopters, a bomb squad, and a dog unit.
Carabinieri military police chief Ciriaco Sarnelli described the security operation as "an extraordinary operation".
Speaking to Sky Europe correspondent Adam Parson, Sarnelli explained that the Carabinieri - one of Italy’s main law enforcement agencies - were there to handle both common crimes like pickpocketing and "the biggest, terrifying events".
Rome Police control room spokeswoman Elisabetta Accardo highlighted the unprecedented scale of the security operation, stating it had been "hundreds of years" since Italy had dealt with an event of this size.
Among the high-profile guests paying tribute were US President Donald Trump, former US President Joe Biden, Britain’s Prince William representing King Charles, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and French President Emmanuel Macron.
Other royal attendees included Spain’s King Felipe and Queen Letizia, Monaco’s Prince Albert and Princess Charlene, Belgium’s King Philippe and Queen Mathilde, Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia, Norway’s Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit, and Jordan’s King Abdullah II and Queen Rania.
New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon attended, while Australia was represented by Governor-General Sam Mostyn, as Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese remained in the country ahead of the federal election's final week.
In keeping with his wishes, Pope Francis’ burial will not follow Vatican tradition. Instead, he will be laid to rest at the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome.
His burial is marked by simplicity, with a handwritten "Rogito" placed inside his coffin alongside a bag of minted coins and key papal documents.
His final testament expressed: “The tomb should be in the ground; simple, without particular ornamentation, bearing only the inscription: Franciscus.”
He also entrusted his journey to the Virgin Mary, writing: “I wish my final earthly journey to end precisely in this ancient Marian sanctuary, where I would always stop to pray at the beginning and end of every Apostolic Journey.”
The historic funeral, led by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, closed a week of mourning for a pontiff remembered worldwide as a "simple and much-loved shepherd".