SOVEREIGN CLOUD LAUNCH IN GERMANY
Published on 05/20/2026
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Thales and Google Cloud have signed a landmark partnership to launch a sovereign cloud in Germany that will provide the best of cloud technology, while shielding sensitive data from extraterritorial exposure.
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A new 100% German entity fully owned and controlled by Thales in Germany, will offer a solution for a dedicated cloud based on Google Cloud technology, operating an isolated infrastructure making a Cloud region located in the Berlin-area under German law and autonomously from Google Cloud. More than 50 jobs will be created by Thales in the establishment of its sovereign cloud operations in Germany.
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This offering is designed to meet the stringent digital sovereignty and regulatory requirements of German public sector organizations and highly regulated industries. The entity targets the highest levels of autonomy, resilience and data protection by meeting Germany’s stringent regulatory requirements such as BSI C5 and it is designed with its new C3A framework for sensitive use cases in mind.
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It is available in preview now and aims for General Availability of the solution by the end of 2026.
For Germany
With this new offering in Germany, acting in tandem with S3NS, a Thales subsidiary running a similar platform already operational in France, Thales clients will be offered a geo-redundant Sovereign Cloud Capability providing disaster recovery across two isolated, highly performant and secure environments in Europe for Europe meeting Europe’s most stringent requirements.
This new step marks Thales renewed commitment to provide performant and highly secured and resilient European cloud services, while guaranteeing that our clients’ sensitive data remains fully under European control, protected from any extraterritorial reach.
For France
The German offering will be operationally separate to meet local sovereignty requirements, but the two regions are technically synergistic, as S3NS and its German counterpart will share the same architecture, the same technology (Google Cloud), and the same operating model.
With this new offering in Germany, S3NS clients and partners will be offered a geo-redundant Sovereign Cloud Capability providing disaster recovery across two isolated, highly performant and secure environments in Europe for Europe.
This new step marks Thales renewed commitment to provide performant and highly secured and resilient European cloud services, while guaranteeing that our clients’ sensitive data remains fully under European control, protected from any extraterritorial reach.
S3NS as a blueprint
Thales x Google Cloud Trusted Cloud and AI Offering
With growing expectations for innovation and improved performance (reliability, fluidity, cost-effectiveness), digitalization through Cloud and Artificial Intelligence has become an essential lever for modernization and efficiency. Public and private organizations across Europe have been using cloud computing as a key driver for digital transformation, reaping the following benefits:
- The creation of modern, seamless experiences for customers and citizens;
- A reduction in operating costs made possible by consumption flexibility, allowing for adjustments based on real needs;
- Improved cybersecurity for IT infrastructure thanks to continuous security updates;
- A significant reduction in "time-to-market" for new services through access to best-in-class technologies.
Yet, modernization of critical operations and public services via the cloud have remained limited, with unexploited opportunities like sensitive data analysis automation and critical business applications’ modernisation.
S3NS was created as a Thales – Google JV in 2022 to operate and sell trusted cloud services based on GCP technology to French organisations willing to protect their sensitive data in the cloud from extraterritorial exposure.
S3NS: a trusted cloud offering based on hyperscaler technology, qualified SecNumCloud by ANSSI
S3NS brings the "best of both worlds": Cloud power and absolute trust.
S3NS is a subsidiary of Thales, fully controlled by Thales, which operates the technology provided by Google Cloud. Google acts solely as a technology provider. S3NS secures and manages three dedicated, isolated data centers located in France. Google Cloud Updates are received in a quarantine zone, inspected, and only moved to production once validated by S3NS. Operations, customer support, and contracting are all handled by S3NS under French law.
The S3NS offering is comprehensive, with a service catalog, an innovation capacity, and a ease of use going far beyond existing players providing a similar level of guarantee and internal infrastructures.
Aiming for parity with the Google Cloud Platform, eventually 150 services will be operated by S3NS teams from data centers located in France. Key services include:
- BigQuery: A central component for modern data infrastructure; an analytical engine designed to process massive data volumes (petabytes) in record time (seconds).
- AI: Equipped with H100 GPUs and BigQuery ML, S3NS currently enables large-scale analysis and modeling. Soon, Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform will offer simple access to the most advanced AI models.
- Managed Kubernetes: Using GKE (Google Kubernetes Engine), managed by S3NS, technical teams are freed from the operational constraints of managing Kubernetes.
- Secret Security: Integration of Google Secrets Manager ensures enhanced protection for critical information (API keys, passwords, certificates), making applications more resilient to attacks.
S3NS obtained the French, ANSSI-delivered SecNumCloud security certification (for its PREMI3NS offering) end-2025, attesting of the high level of protection against cybersecurity risks, including risks stemming from extraterritorial exposure. More than 70 customers spanning all sectors already trust S3NS.
