Cloud Under Fire: Hyperscale Data Centers and the Rise of Cyber-Physical Warfare

This working paper examines the emerging strategic significance of hyperscale cloud infrastructure in contemporary conflict environments. Drawing on the concept of Digital Strategic Nodes (DSNs), the study analyzes how the concentration of computing resources within a limited number of hyperscale data centers may generate new forms of systemic vulnerability. Using the reported drone strikes near Amazon Web Services (AWS) facilities in the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain during the 2026 U.S.–Iran conflict as a case study, the paper explores how kinetic attacks on digital infrastructure may produce cyber-like operational effects. The analysis integrates international relations scholarship on cyber conflict, infrastructure security, and network power. The study further maps major digital infrastructure across the Middle East, identifying an expanded inventory of 28 Digital Strategic Nodes, including hyperscale cloud regions, Internet exchange points, submarine cable landing stations, cloud interconnection facilities, and edge-distribution nodes. Many of these facilities fall within the strike range of regional missile systems, creating a structural intersection between digital infrastructure and military dynamics. The findings suggest that contemporary warfare is increasingly characterized by cyber-physical interaction, in which physical attacks on digital infrastructure may generate cascading disruptions across interconnected digital systems.