Airbus wants to break free from US cloud

“Airbus is preparing to launch a major tender to move critical digital workloads to a digitally independent European cloud – but the chances of finding the right supplier are only 80:20, writes The Register.

 

The aerospace manufacturer, which has already consolidated its data center assets and uses services such as Google Workspace, now wants to move key local applications, including resource planning, production execution systems, CRM and product lifecycle management (aircraft design), to the cloud. “We need a sovereign cloud because some of the information is particularly sensitive nationally and European-wide,” said Catherine Jestin, Airbus’ executive vice president of digital operations. “We want to ensure that this information remains under European control.” A key factor is access to new software.

 

Suppliers such as SAP are innovating exclusively in the cloud, encouraging customers to migrate to platforms such as S/4HANA.

 

A call for proposals will be launched in early January, with a decision expected by the summer. The contract, estimated to be worth more than €50 million, will be long-term, lasting up to ten years. Digital sovereignty has become even more important since Donald Trump returned to the White House in January. His policies have caused instability in trade and geopolitical relations, prompting European customers to reduce their reliance on US suppliers.

 

While Microsoft, AWS and Google have developed solutions to address these concerns, concerns remain about the US Cloud Act, which allows authorities to request data stored by US corporations in foreign data centres. Last July, Microsoft admitted in a French court that it could not guarantee data sovereignty under the legislation.

 

Jestin is waiting for European regulators to clarify whether Airbus will truly be “resistant to extraterritorial laws” and whether services could be cut off. The concern is not theoretical. Karim Khan, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), reportedly lost access to his Microsoft email after Trump fined him for criticizing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — though Microsoft denies suspending ICC services.

 

Aside from the U.S. complications, Jestin doubts whether European cloud providers can offer sufficient scale. “If you asked me today if we would find a solution, I would say 80/20,” she said. That puts pressure on European providers to cooperate, but it remains unclear whether they can handle such complex issues within the time frame set by Airbus, The Register reports.”