Defense

PARIS — Dassault Aviation, the French maker of the Rafale fighter jet, led a €200 million ($234 million) funding round by autonomous drone maker Harmattan AI as part of a strategic partnership, valuing the Paris-based startup at €1.4 billion and creating France’s first defense unicorn. The partnership will help Harmattan develop embedded artificial intelligence for Dassault Aviation’s…

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia bombarded Ukraine with hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles in a large-scale overnight attack, officials said Friday, killing at least four people. For only the second time, it used a new ballistic missile that it says flies at 10 times the speed of sound and is unstoppable. The intense barrage and the launching of the nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile came days…

NEW TAIPEI CITY, Taiwan — China’s two days of military drills in waters surrounding Taiwan last month came closer than ever to the self-ruled island’s coast and were the largest-scale exercises in more than three years of exercises partly aimed at deterring a U.S. role in an actual war, analysts say. A rocket artillery unit participating in the People’s Liberation Army Eastern Theater…

PARIS (AP) — Ukraine’s allies said they made major progress Tuesday toward agreeing on how to defend the country if a peace deal is struck with Russia, saying they were ready to provide international guarantees to deter Moscow from attacking its neighbor again. Plans discussed at a key meeting in Paris included having the U.S. lead an effort to monitor any ceasefire — which could give…