Defense & National Security

Prime Contractor Quarterly Revenue

Quarterly defense-segment revenue for the top 10 primes ($B USD). Defense-segment basis where reported. 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.

Defense Backlog by Company

Year-end order backlog ($B USD). RTX backlog includes commercial aerospace. Sources: 10-K filings.

Year-end order backlog ($B USD). RTX backlog includes commercial aerospace (~$50B). Foreign currency converted at year-end FX. Sources: 10-K filings.

US Prime Contract Market Share (FY2024)

US DoD prime contract obligations FY2024. Total ~$525B obligations. Source: USAspending.gov.
Lockheed Martin12.4%
RTX Corporation7.6%
General Dynamics5.7%
Boeing Defense4.6%
Northrop Grumman4.4%
L3Harris2.9%
Huntington Ingalls1.8%
Leidos1.7%
Booz Allen Hamilton1.5%
Palantir0.3%
Anduril0.3%
Other primes + small business56.8%

US DoD prime contract obligations FY2024 — total ~$525B. Source: USAspending.gov.

SIPRI Top 25 Global Contractors

Annual ranking by arms revenue ($M USD), FY2024. Russian/Chinese figures are SIPRI estimates. Source: SIPRI Arms Industry Database.
#CompanyCountryArms Revenue% Defense
1Lockheed MartinUS$71.0B99%
2RTX CorporationUS$40.5B50%
3Northrop GrummanUS$41.0B95%
4General DynamicsUS$37.5B79%
5BAE SystemsGB$33.0B95%
6Boeing DefenseUS$23.9B36%
7AVICCN$22.5B33%
8L3HarrisUS$21.3B100%
9ThalesFR$16.5B80%
10LeonardoIT$14.5B81%
11Airbus Defence & SpaceMultinational$12.5B17%
12NORINCOCN$14.6B27%
13HIIUS$11.5B100%
14LeidosUS$11.2B67%
15Booz Allen HamiltonUS$11.0B98%
16RostecRU$10.9B70%
17RheinmetallDE$9.8B95%
18CASICCN$8.2B35%
19CACI InternationalUS$7.7B100%
20Mitsubishi HeavyJP$8.0B25%
21Almaz-AnteyRU$7.1B100%
22Hanwha AerospaceKR$6.7B65%
23Israel Aerospace IndustriesIL$5.2B100%
24Hyundai RotemKR$3.5B70%
25SaabSE$4.8B95%

SIPRI Top 25 by FY2024 arms revenue ($M USD). Total Top 25: $454.4B. Russian/Chinese figures are SIPRI estimates due to limited transparency. Source: SIPRI Arms Industry Database.

Defense M&A Activity

Major defense industry M&A 2020-2026 (≥$200M). Sources: company press, SEC filings, FTC reviews.
DateAcquirerTargetValueCategoryNote
2026-03PalantirVoyage AI Innovations$175MAI/ML Tooling
2026-02Lockheed MartinTerran Orbital$600MSmall Satellite BusesAcquisition completed Feb 2026; closed late 2025
2025-11AndurilKlas Telecom$240MTactical NetworkingAnduril private; announced Nov 2025
2025-09RTXHeliponix subsidiary$380MCounter-UAS
2025-06ThalesCobham Aerospace Communications$1.1BAvionics
2025-02LeidosCobham Mission Systems$850MDefense Electronics
2024-12Booz AllenEverWatch$440MCyber/SIGINT
2024-10AeroVironmentBlueHalo$4.1BCounter-UAS + Directed EnergyClosed Q1 2025
2023-08BAE SystemsBall Aerospace$5.5BSpace SystemsClosed Feb 2024
2022-12L3HarrisAerojet Rocketdyne$4.7BSolid Rocket MotorsClosed Jul 2023 after FTC blocked LMT bid
2020-12Lockheed MartinAerojet Rocketdyne (announced)$4.4BSolid Rocket MotorsFTC blocked Feb 2022
2020-04L3HarrisAviation Communication Systems$600MAvionics

Major defense M&A 2020-2026 (≥$200M). Sorted most recent first. Sources: company press releases, SEC filings, FTC reviews.

Defense ETF Performance

Total return indexed to 100 at Jan 31, 2022 — ITA, XAR vs S&P 500. Sources: Yahoo Finance, Bloomberg.

Total return indexed to 100 at Jan 31, 2022. Defense ETFs outperformed S&P 500 substantially after Russia's invasion of Ukraine (Feb 2022) and Israel-Hamas war (Oct 2023). Sources: Yahoo Finance, Bloomberg.

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 - Primes | Sterling