Lockheed Martin: The World’s Largest Defense Company Explained

Lockheed Martin is a global aerospace, defense, arms, information-security and technology company. Measured by defense revenue it is the largest in the world, ahead of RTX, Boeing Defense, Northrop Grumman and General Dynamics. Most of its revenue comes from the U.S. government — chiefly the Department of Defense and NASA.

The company was created in 1995 by the merger of the Lockheed Corporation and Martin Marietta. It is organized into four business segments and is best known for the F-35 program, the single largest weapons program in history.

The two ancestor firms both date to 1912 — the Loughead (Lockheed) and Glenn L. Martin companies. In 1943 Lockheed created its legendary Skunk Works advanced-development unit under Kelly Johnson, which produced the U-2 spy plane, the SR-71 Blackbird and the F-117 Nighthawk, the first operational stealth aircraft.

The 1995 merger created today’s Lockheed Martin. In 2015 it acquired Sikorsky Aircraft, maker of the Black Hawk, for about $9 billion, adding rotary-wing aircraft to its portfolio.

Lockheed Martin operates through four segments. Aeronautics is the largest, driven by the F-35.

Lockheed Martin’s catalog covers air, land, sea and space. A selection of its best-known systems:

Revenue has grown steadily to a 2024 record. The order backlog of roughly $176 billion provides multi-year visibility.

Lockheed Martin competes with the other “big five” U.S. primes and with Europe’s BAE Systems. It leads in fighters and missile defense; rivals are stronger in bombers, engines or naval platforms.

Turkey was a manufacturing partner and buyer of 100 F-35A jets; Turkish firms such as TUSAŞ, Alp Aviation and Kale Aerospace produced components. After Turkey bought the Russian S-400 system, the United States removed it from the F-35 program in 2019. Separately, TUSAŞ builds the Sikorsky Black Hawk locally as the T70 under license.

As the top arms maker, Lockheed Martin draws sustained scrutiny. Human-rights groups have criticized the use of its weapons — including Israeli F-35I “Adir” jets and precision-guidance kits — in the bombardment of Gaza, where thousands of Palestinian civilians have been killed. The F-35 program itself has been criticized by the U.S. GAO for exceeding $2 trillion in lifetime cost and for falling readiness rates.

Fighter jets (F-35, F-22, F-16), the C-130 transport, missile-defense systems (THAAD, PAC-3), HIMARS artillery, Javelin and Hellfire missiles, Sikorsky helicopters (Black Hawk, CH-53K), and space systems including NASA’s Orion capsule, GPS III satellites and the Trident II D5 missile.

Yes. By defense revenue Lockheed Martin is the world’s largest defense contractor, ahead of RTX, Boeing, Northrop Grumman and General Dynamics.

In Bethesda, Maryland, USA. It employs about 122,000 people worldwide.

About $71 billion in net sales in 2024, a company record, with an order backlog near $176 billion.

The U.S. removed Turkey in 2019 after it purchased the Russian S-400 air-defense system, citing security concerns for the F-35.