By Leo Marchandon
April 9 (Reuters) - 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 U.S. peers and has been pushing for a pan-European cloud and artificial intelligence strategy.
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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.
($1 = 0.8570 euros)
(Reporting by Leo Marchandon in Gdansk, editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak)