Since 2026, Airbus operates a high-performance computing infrastructure across two European sites: Toulouse, France and Hamburg, Germany. Bull delivered a turnkey solution that covers the computing systems, storage, and data centers. The contractual model is an “as-a-service” arrangement.
The previous infrastructure was no longer sufficient to absorb the simulation load required by ongoing and upcoming projects. The new deployment triples the available simulation capacity for engineers. Airbus is harnessing this computing power for three types of tasks: aerodynamic design, acoustics (cockpit, fuselage, cabin), and the analysis of structural constraints.
The data centers rely on a modular architecture. Bull pre-integrates the supercomputer into prefabricated, interchangeable modules shipped from its Angers factory. The teams then assemble the whole on site. Bull delivered the first supercomputer to Toulouse in 2025. Hamburg’s followed in 2026.
Cooling is based on direct liquid cooling with warm water. The systems generate heat that Bull captures and reuses to heat adjacent buildings. Bull claims a patent on this setup.
A team of Bull engineers specialized in industrial HPC, based in Germany, worked on optimizing the applications within the simulation environments, alongside the hardware deployment.
