Airbus Moving Critical Systems Away From AWS, Google, and Microsoft Citing Data Sovereignty Concerns

Airbus is preparing to tender a major contract to move mission-critical systems like ERP, manufacturing, and aircraft design data onto a digitally sovereign European cloud, citing national security concerns and fears around U.S. extraterritorial laws like the CLOUD Act. 'I need a sovereign cloud because part of the information is extremely sensitive from a national and European perspective,' Catherine Jestin, Airbus's executive vice president of digital, told The Register. 'We want to ensure this information remains under European control.' The Register reports: The driver is access to new software. Vendors like SAP are developing innovations exclusively in the cloud, pushing customers toward platforms like S/4HANA. The request for proposals launches in early January, with a decision expected before summer. The contract -- understood to be worth more than 50 million euros -- will be long term (up to ten years), with price predictability over the period. Jestin is waiting for European regulators to clarify whether Airbus would truly be 'immune to extraterritorial laws' -- and whether services could be interrupted.

The concern isn't theoretical. Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Karim Khan reportedly lost access to his Microsoft email after Trump sanctioned him for criticizing Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, though Microsoft denies suspending ICC services. Beyond US complications, Jestin questions whether European cloud providers have sufficient scale. 'If you asked me today if we'll find a solution, I'd say 80/20.'

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