Defense & National Security

Defense Sector Segments

Primes & Market

The top defense contractors by revenue — US primes, European primes, and the Asia-Pacific giants — plus public-market and M&A activity.

Lockheed Martin logo

Lockheed Martin

World's largest defense contractor; F-35, F-22, THAAD, PAC-3, $176B backlog.

RTX Corporation logo

RTX Corporation

Patriot, AMRAAM, Tomahawk, F-35 engines; $221B backlog (incl. commercial aero).

Northrop Grumman logo

Northrop Grumman

B-21 Raider, Sentinel ICBM, GBI/NGI missile defense, classified space.

General Dynamics logo

General Dynamics

Virginia + Columbia subs, Abrams, Stryker, ammunition, Gulfstream.

Boeing Defense logo

Boeing Defense

Boeing Defense ($24B); won F-47 NGAD Mar 2025; KC-46, P-8 Poseidon.

BAE Systems logo

BAE Systems

UK's largest; Astute/Dreadnought subs, Type 26 frigates, GCAP partner.

Domains

How $870B+ of US DoD spending splits across Air, Sea, Land, Space, Cyber, and Nuclear — plus equipment fleet and munition production.

Lockheed Martin logo

Lockheed Martin

Air dominance: F-35, F-22, JASSM, THAAD, plus Sikorsky helicopters.

Huntington Ingalls Industries logo

Huntington Ingalls Industries

Sea: largest US shipbuilder — Virginia, Columbia, DDG-51, Ford-class CVN.

General Dynamics logo

General Dynamics

Land + Sea: Abrams + Stryker; Electric Boat sub yard.

Northrop Grumman logo

Northrop Grumman

Air + Nuclear: B-21 strategic bomber, Sentinel ICBM (Nunn-McCurdy review).

Programs

The major MDAPs — what they cost, who's prime, and how cost growth + Foreign Military Sales pipelines are reshaping the procurement queue.

Lockheed Martin logo

Lockheed Martin

F-35 ($2T lifecycle), THAAD, PAC-3, AGM-158 JASSM/LRASM, T-50/F-50 trainer bid.

Boeing Defense logo

Boeing Defense

F-47 NGAD prime (won Mar 2025); KC-46 + T-7A fixed-price losses.

Northrop Grumman logo

Northrop Grumman

B-21 production ramp; Sentinel ICBM in 47% cost-growth restructure.

General Dynamics logo

General Dynamics

Columbia SSBN first-of-class delivery slipped to 2027.

Defense Tech

$45B+ raised since 2020. The new wave: Anduril, Shield AI, Saronic, Helsing, Skydio, Palantir — autonomous systems + AI software disrupting incumbents.

Anduril Industries logo

Anduril

$40B+ valuation; CCA Increment 1 winner; Lattice + Bolt + Roadrunner + Fury.

Palantir Technologies logo

Palantir Technologies

$300B+ market cap; TITAN ($618M), Project Maven, JADC2, AIP platform.

Shield AI logo

Shield AI

Hivemind autonomous flight; V-BAT VTOL UAS; VENOM-AFT F-16 autonomy.

Saronic Technologies logo

Saronic

Autonomous USVs; $4B Series C Aug 2025; Replicator + Port Alpha shipyard.

Helsing logo

Helsing

European AI defense; €5.4B valuation; HX-2 strike drone deployed Ukraine.

AeroVironment logo

AeroVironment

Switchblade 300/600; acquired BlueHalo $4.1B (space + directed energy).

Geopolitics

$2.46T global spending in 2024 (+7.4%). NATO at 23 of 32 members above 2% GDP. Active conflicts driving demand: Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan, Red Sea.

Rheinmetall logo

Rheinmetall

European rearmament play; 155mm shells 70K → 700K target by 2027; stock 5x'd.

Hyundai Rotem logo

Hyundai Rotem

K2 tank export winner; Polish $13B contract; export-led growth.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries logo

Mitsubishi Heavy

Japan's defense budget 2x'd 2022-2027; GCAP partner; F-X program.

Israel Aerospace Industries logo

Israel Aerospace Industries

Combat-tested portfolio; Arrow 3 Germany €4B; multi-front war demand.

Prime Contractor Quarterly Revenue

Quarterly defense-segment revenue for the top 10 primes ($B USD). Defense-segment basis. Sources: 10-Q filings.

Quarterly defense-segment revenue ($B USD). Defense-segment basis where reported; total revenue × estimated defense share for diversified primes (RTX ~50%, BA ~36%). Sources: 10-Q filings.

Global Defense Spending

Top countries by 2024 defense spending — global total $2.46T (+7.4% YoY). 2025E: $2.7T. Source: SIPRI Military Expenditure Database.

Top 15 countries by defense spending ($B USD per SIPRI methodology). 2025 is estimate. Russia FY2024 +24% YoY (wartime); Israel +65% (multi-front war). Global total 2024: $2460B → 2025E: $2700B.

US DoD Budget by Domain

US DoD topline split across Air, Sea, Land, Space, Cyber, Nuclear, and Other ($B USD). FY2026 request $870B.

US DoD topline split by domain ($B USD), FY2020 → FY2026. Nuclear includes B-21 + Sentinel + Columbia. FY2026 figures are President's Budget request. Sources: DoD Comptroller.

Defense Tech VC Funding by Year

Annual defense-tech VC totals — $25.4B in 2025 (+63% YoY). Anduril alone raised $5B at $40B+ valuation Dec 2025.

Annual defense tech VC funding ($B). Hover for deal counts and key drivers. 2026 is partial-year (through April). Methodology: rounds where primary buyer is military/national-security; pure commercial/SaaS excluded. Sources: Crunchbase, PitchBook.

Ask Sterling

Register for a premium account to gain access to Sterling AI.

Get Started

Things you can ask Sterling:

Summarize Tesla's latest earnings reportWhy did NVIDIA's margins expand?Compare Apple vs Microsoft's cash flowWhat's driving the EV sector growth?
Defense & National Security - Hardware | Sterling