Europe’s cloud challenge: Building an Airbus for the digital age

Key Takeaways

• Airbus is preparing a €50 million‑plus tender to migrate mission‑critical systems to a European “digitally sovereign” cloud.^{[^9]}
• The move targets data‑intensive applications such as ERP, CRM and product‑lifecycle‑management platforms that underpin aerospace design and defence programmes.^{[^3]}
• European regulators and the EU Data Act push for data‑residency and protection from the U.S. CLOUD Act, prompting the push for a sovereign cloud.^{[^4]}
• Airbus estimates an 80 % chance of finding a European provider that meets its technical, security and legal requirements.^{[^6]}
• The initiative mirrors the original Airbus consortium that united UK, France, Germany and Spain to challenge Boeing, now applied to the digital arena.^{[^8]}

The Historical Parallel: Airbus’s Origin and the New Cloud Consortium

More than half a century ago, aerospace firms from the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Spain joined forces to compete with America’s Boeing. Today, the same coalition of European states and private firms is being mobilised to confront the dominance of Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud on the ground.^{[^1]} The ambition is to give Europe a “combat cloud” for defence, space and industrial data—a digital battlefield that can be controlled locally and insulated from foreign legal reach.^{[^4]}

Why Europe Is Seeking a Sovereign Cloud

The EU’s recent legislative package – the Data Act, the NIS2 Directive and the GDPR – emphasizes data residency, security and the right to switch providers without lock‑in.^{[^7]} At the same time, the U.S. CLOUD Act (2018) enables American authorities to demand data from U.S.‑based cloud providers, even when that data is stored in Europe. This extraterritorial reach creates legal uncertainty for companies that handle “nationally sensitive” information.^{[^9]}

“I need a sovereign cloud because part of the information is extremely sensitive from a national and European perspective.” – Catherine Jestin, Airbus Vice‑President for Digital Affairs^{[^1]}

Airbus’s own experience illustrates the risk: while it already uses Google Workspace for collaboration, many core systems still run on on‑premise servers to avoid CLOUD Act exposure. Moving those workloads to a European‑controlled cloud would align the company with the EU’s strategic autonomy goals and the upcoming “digital battlefield” timeline outlined by CEO Guillaume Faury.^{[^4]}

Airbus’s Plan: A €50 Million Tender for Mission‑Critical Workloads

According to reporting by The Register and CloudComputing‑News, Airbus will issue a request for proposals (RFP) in early January 2026, with a decision expected before summer. The contract is projected to run up to ten years and exceed €50 million, with a strong emphasis on price predictability and long‑term service continuity.^{[^1][^9]}

The scope includes migration of:

• Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems.
• Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) platforms.
• Data‑intensive analytics and AI workloads that support the Future Combat Air System (FCAS) and other defence programmes.

Airbus’s executive vice‑president for digital affairs, Catherine Jestin, highlighted the “80 % probability” of finding a suitable European provider, underlining both the opportunity and the remaining gap in capabilities.^{[^3][^6]}

Technical and Legal Drivers: CLOUD Act, Data Act, and NIS2

The CLOUD Act remains the primary legal catalyst for the sovereign‑cloud push. It permits U.S. authorities to compel American cloud vendors to hand over data under their jurisdiction, regardless of where the servers reside. Airbus, like many European defence contractors, fears that classified designs and supply‑chain information could become subject to U.S. warrants.^{[^9]}

In parallel, the EU Data Act (effective September 2025) aims to unlock non‑personal data, create fair B2B‑sharing contracts, and ensure that public authorities can obtain data in emergencies while preserving commercial rights.^{[^7]} The act also pushes for “cloud portability” – a key requirement for Airbus’s desire to avoid vendor lock‑in.

Compliance with the NIS2 Directive adds another layer: essential and important entities must adopt robust cybersecurity measures and report incidents, further incentivising a cloud environment that is under European oversight.^{[^7]}

Market Landscape and the “80/20” Assessment

European cloud providers such as OVHcloud, Deutsche Telekom’s T‑Systems and Schwarz Digits’ STACKIT are positioning themselves as sovereign‑cloud candidates. However, analysts note that these vendors often lack the global scale, AI‑centric services and extensive ecosystem of the U.S. hyperscalers.^{[^6]}

Airbus’s own estimate—an 80 % chance of success—reflects a realistic view that while a viable European solution likely exists, it may still fall short of the breadth offered by AWS, Azure or Google Cloud. The tender is therefore designed to stimulate further investment in the EU cloud market, with the €50 million prize expected to act as a catalyst for capacity‑building.^{[^2][^5]}

Broader Industry Response and Future Outlook

In the wider policy arena, the EU’s “digital Airbus” concept is gaining traction as a strategic priority. The French‑Swedish opinion piece in Cleura argues that Europe needs a joint digital infrastructure project to maintain competitiveness and security, echoing the same cooperative spirit that built the original Airbus aircraft manufacturer.^{[^8]}

Looking ahead, Airbus’s initiative could set a precedent for other strategic industries—energy, finance and health—to demand sovereign‑cloud solutions. If successful, it may also accelerate the development of a pan‑European cloud ecosystem capable of supporting AI, high‑performance computing and secure defence communications.

Conclusion

Airbus’s effort to “build an Airbus for the digital age” is exactly what we need toward European digital sovereignty. By earmarking significant funding for a sovereign‑cloud migration, the aerospace giant is not only safeguarding its sensitive data from extraterritorial reach but also prompting the EU cloud market to evolve faster. The outcome of the upcoming tender will likely shape the balance of power between American hyperscalers and emerging European providers, with implications that extend far beyond aerospace into the broader digital future of the continent.