European defence ministries are turning to a French cloud provider to cut ties with US tech

Published: 9 April 2026

Last updated: 9 April 2026

Reuters

polish army men, war uniform, bordo hats, blue eu flag with yellow stars — Servicemen hold European Union flag. Dominika Zarzycka/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty.

France's OVHcloud is creating a dedicated defence vertical after several European defence ministries approached it to support their military digital transformation, the datacentre operator said on Thursday.

Their needs include AI-augmented command, drone orchestration and communication interoperability across armed forces and within NATO systems alongside strict requirements on technological independence from non-European providers, OVH said in its half-year earnings statement.

OVH, Europe's leading native cloud provider, has long positioned strategic autonomy as a differentiator against US peers and has been pushing for a pan-European cloud and artificial intelligence strategy.

The conversation on this topic is live. Join in the discussion.

For the first half of its financial year, the company reported 5.5% organic revenue growth to 555 million euros ($648 million), driven by increased spending among its existing clients.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization grew 8.3% organically to 227 million euros, and the group confirmed its financial guidance for the full year.