Lockheed Martin

What it is

Lockheed Martin is a US aerospace and defense company headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, and the world's largest arms producer by revenue. SIPRI ranked it first among the Top 100 arms-producing companies for 2024, with US$64.7 billion in arms sales. The company operates across four segments: Aeronautics (F-35 Lightning II, F-22 Raptor, C-130J Super Hercules), Missiles and Fire Control (THAAD, PAC-3, JASSM, Precision Strike Missile, Hellfire), Rotary and Mission Systems (Sikorsky helicopters, C2 and radar systems), and Space (satellites, missile defense command networks, hypersonic vehicles). Approximately 74% of revenue comes from the US government, primarily the US Department of Defense.

History

Lockheed Martin was created on March 15, 1995, by the merger of Lockheed Corporation (founded 1912, Burbank, California) and Martin Marietta (founded 1961, Bethesda, Maryland). The post-Cold War drawdown cut US defense budgets sharply after 1990, forcing consolidation across the US defense industry. The merged company inherited the F-117 Nighthawk stealth fighter, the Trident II submarine-launched ballistic missile, and Titan IV rockets. In 2001, Lockheed Martin won the US Joint Strike Fighter competition against Boeing, launching the F-35 program, now its single largest revenue source. The company acquired Sikorsky Aircraft from United Technologies in November 2015 for US$9 billion, adding the Black Hawk and CH-53K King Stallion helicopter lines. In 2022, the US Federal Trade Commission blocked Lockheed's proposed US$4.4 billion acquisition of Aerojet Rocketdyne, citing vertical integration concerns about US propulsion supply chains.

Current state

For full-year 2025, Lockheed Martin reported revenue of US$75.0 billion, net earnings of US$5.0 billion, and a record backlog of US$194 billion. The Missiles and Fire Control segment grew 14% that year, driven by accelerated THAAD interceptor and PAC-3 missile production as Middle East conflicts depleted allied inventories. In June 2026, the US Department of Defense awarded Lockheed a US$35 billion multiyear THAAD procurement contract, targeting a quadrupling of annual interceptor output from roughly 96 to 400 units by the early 2030s. The US Army separately expanded the Precision Strike Missile contract by US$8.4 billion, extending production through US fiscal year 2032. Lockheed's 2026 revenue guidance is US$77.5 billion to US$80 billion.

Relationships

The US federal government is Lockheed Martin's dominant customer, accounting for roughly 74% of annual sales. International customers, reached through US Foreign Military Sales channels, include Japan, South Korea, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Norway, and the Netherlands, all of which operate or are acquiring the F-35 and several of which maintain THAAD or PAC-3 batteries. The Israeli draw-down of THAAD interceptors during the 2026 Iran conflict exposed how tightly allied inventories track Lockheed's production cycle. The concurrent depletion of Patriot interceptors in the same campaign is driving allied demand across the broader missile defense portfolio. Key industrial relationships include Pratt and Whitney for F-35 propulsion, and co-production agreements in Italy, Japan, and the Netherlands for F-35 airframe components.

What to watch

F-35 production stood near 156 aircraft per year as of early 2026, and the US Air Force and allied customers are assessing whether to raise that rate. The THAAD replenishment contract through the early 2030s is the company's most visible near-term driver. PrSM deployment into Pacific deterrence scenarios, including potential Foreign Military Sales to Japan and Australia, is an active diplomatic variable. Lockheed's hypersonics portfolio, including the Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon program for the US Army, depends on US Congressional appropriations that have fluctuated. CEO Jim Taiclet has flagged F-35 sustainment costs, averaging roughly US$36,000 per flight hour, as a target for reduction through greater use of commercially available components.