AI data centres become new frontline in modern warfare– Here’s why

The ongoing conflict in the Middle East has defined the use of artificial intelligence in the battlefield.

In today’s world where geopolitical ambitions outshine peace, countries are racing to integrate AI models into high-stakes military operations. The recent US-Iran conflict validates this paradigm shift.

Data centers have emerged as another strategic frontline which is making its position in modern warfare. The high-value physical buildings are known for housing infrastructure important for AI platforms, cloud services, internet, and banking apps.

Following drone attacks on Amazon facilities in the UAE and Bahrain have exposed the vulnerability of the "physical cloud" and the potential ripple effects on global AI.

Attack on Amazon data centers

On March 1, 2026, two Amazon data centers in the UAE were hit by drone strikes. In Bahrain, a third center was also damaged by the attacks.

According to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) who claimed responsibility for the attacks, these data centers were supporting enemy intelligence activities.

As a result of blatant attacks, Amazon services remain unavailable or disrupted for many people in the region.

Data centers: strategic targets in digital warfare

According to Vincent Boulanin, director of the governance of AI programme at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), given the growing importance and involvement of digital infrastructure in warfare, it is highly likely that data centers will frequently be targeted in the future.

“Data centres are a critical building block of AI capabilities at the national level. From that perspective, data centres can be considered a very critical infrastructure,” Boulanin said.

Data centres are becoming the center of attraction in conflicts due to its massive impact on civilians and potentially on US military operations.

Hyperscaler data centers are more vulnerable to these attacks as by targeting hyperscalers (facilities with 5,000+ servers), attackers can disrupt everything from national banking to essential cloud services.

Moreover, the use of AI models by the US military in operations is also putting big tech’s data centers at risk of attack.

Defensive vulnerabilities

Although data centers have robust ground security, they lack the ability to ward off state-level air strikes.

AI data centers also suffer from a priority dilemma as they are ranked lower on national defense priority lists compared to oil refineries or water desalination plants.

Amazon uses "Availability Zones" to migrate data during disasters, such as floods or earthquakes and they can also help with strikes-driven disruptions.

But, government data localization rules which require data to stay within a specific country, can limit this utility.

Geopolitical and Economic implications

The recent attacks on data centers threaten the Gulf’s Cloud and AI strategy.

According to 2025 data from Mordor Intelligence, UAE hosts 35 data centers, with 42% considered to be large facilities with up to 5000 servers.

The UAE data center market was projected to grow from $3.29 billion in 2026 to $7.7 billion by 2031, but these strikes may deter future investment from tech companies.

Shires said, “Investment in data centres is designed with a very long time frame, and any event like this increases the risk of that investment. It really puts into jeopardy the cloud and AI strategies of the Gulf economy in a really worrying way.”

To protect these strategic data centers, experts suggest labelling them as “critical infrastructure,” putting them under the protection of missile systems.