European Military Cloud Resilience: Securing Sovereign Micro-Infrastructure (Hidden Champions)
A Technical Assessment of Decentralized Data Exchange and Sovereign Hosting in the Defense Industrial Strategy
Evidence Statement: The analysis incorporates proprietary industrial data from the Defence Finance Monitor Database, aligned with the regulatory frameworks of Regulation (EU) SAFE and the European Defence Industry Programme (EDIP). Technical maturity levels (TRL 8-9) for the identified industrial actors are derived from official factsheets, institutional reports from the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), and the 2030 Defence Readiness Roadmap. Strategic assessments concerning US CLOUD Act risks and logical sovereignty are cross-referenced with the EU Strategic Compass and the White Paper on European Defence Readiness. Product specifications for decentralized exchange protocols and sovereign IaaS are based on official documentation from DG DEFIS and the European Defence Fund.
The industrial posture of the European Union in the digital defense domain is defined by a critical paradox: while physical data centers increasingly exist on allied soil, the logical layers of virtualization and orchestration remain heavily dependent on extra-EU technology stacks. This structural reliance on non-European hypervisors and cloud management platforms introduces significant risks regarding data sovereignty and jurisdictional reach, specifically under frameworks like the US CLOUD Act. In a high-intensity conflict scenario, the ability of a foreign entity to compel data disclosure or modify proprietary orchestration logic constitutes a systemic vulnerability for the European Defence Technological and Industrial Base (EDTIB). Reclaiming the micro-infrastructure of the military cloud is therefore a prerequisite for ensuring that mission-critical data remains under the exclusive control of member states. The pursuit of strategic autonomy necessitates a shift toward sovereign, “ITAR-free” logical stacks that can be fully audited and governed by European authorities. This transition is no longer a theoretical goal but a funded industrial priority designed to eliminate “black-box” dependencies from the digital backbone of the Union. Securing this logical layer is a material requirement for tactical decision dominance.