Largest Defense Companies by Market Capitalization

Lockheed Martin, the world’s largest defense contractor and lead contractor on the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, trades on the NYSE alongside most of the sector’s heavyweights. American companies account for over half of the total defense market capitalization — a direct consequence of the United States maintaining the world’s largest military budget.

Defense stocks are classified within the broader industrials sector, and the industry is commonly grouped together with aerospace. Companies in this space provide governments with military capabilities across naval, land, aerospace, and electronic systems domains. Key sub-sectors include:

• Aerospace & missiles: Lockheed Martin (F-35, missile defense), Boeing (military aircraft), Northrop Grumman (B-21 Raider stealth bomber, Global Hawk drones)
• Defense electronics & sensors: RTX Corporation — formed in 2020 through the merger of Raytheon Company and United Technologies — specializing in missiles, radar, and electronic warfare; L3Harris Technologies in defense communications
• Naval & land systems: General Dynamics, which produces Gulfstream jets, Abrams tanks, and nuclear submarines
• Defense IT: Leidos Holdings, a major IT contractor expanding into autonomous ships and classified research for intelligence and space communities
• European defense: Safran (EPA: SAF), the most valuable defense company outside the United States; BAE Systems (LSE), the UK’s leading defense contractor and the largest foreign supplier in the US; Germany’s Rheinmetall (ETR: RHM) in ground vehicles and ammunition

While U.S.-listed firms dominate, the world’s biggest defense companies also come from France, Germany, and the United Kingdom. GE Aerospace, the remaining core of a company formed in 1892 with ties to Thomas Edison, also ranks among the top names through its military and commercial turbine engine business.

For those looking at ETF exposure, funds such as the iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF (ITA), Invesco Aerospace & Defense ETF (PPA), and the Global X Defense Tech ETF (SHLD) track this space — see our full defense and aerospace ETFs list for details.

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The table below ranks the largest publicly traded defense companies by market capitalization, with live pricing and real-time valuations.