Below is a list of 40 of the largest listed aerospace & defense companies as of January 2017, alongside Boeing and Airbus. As the biggest of these are American, I use the American spelling “defense” rather than the British spelling “defence”.
Like many late cold war kids, I was fascinated by supersonic military aircraft as a young boy, and have a special nostalgia for these top companies’ Soviet competitor Tupolev, owned by Russian listed but 80% state-owned company United Aircraft Corporation (MCX: UNAC), which didn’t make this list.
| RIC | Name | USD Market Cap (Millions) |
| BA | Boeing Co | $96,877 |
| UTX | United Technologies Corp | $91,316 |
| LMT | Lockheed Martin Corp | $74,413 |
| GD | General Dynamics Corp | $53,455 |
| AIR.PA | Airbus Group SE | $51,501 |
| RTN | Raytheon Co | $43,072 |
| NOC | Northrop Grumman Corp | $41,466 |
| SAF.PA | Safran SA | $30,065 |
| BAES.L | BAE Systems PLC | $23,084 |
| TCFP.PA | Thales SA | $20,139 |
| RR.L / RYCEY.PK | Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC | $15,199 |
| TXT | Textron Inc | $13,591 |
| TDG | TransDigm Group Inc | $13,446 |
| COL | Rockwell Collins Inc | $12,152 |
| LLL | L-3 Communications Holdings Inc | $11,769 |
| HII | Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc | $8,896 |
| LDOF.MI | Leonardo Finmeccanica SpA | $8,136 |
| SPR | Spirit AeroSystems Holdings Inc | $7,258 |
| STEG.SI | Singapore Technologies Engineering Ltd | $7,163 |
| ZODC.PA | Zodiac Aerospace SA | $6,721 |
| BEAV.O | B/E Aerospace Inc | $6,171 |
| MTXGn.DE | MTU Aero Engines AG | $6,030 |
| 600118.SS | China Spacesat Co Ltd | $5,473 |
| OA | Orbital ATK Inc | $5,285 |
| 601718.SS | Jihua Group Corp Ltd | $5,209 |
| CAE | CAE Inc | $5,053 |
| HEI | HEICO Corp | $4,842 |
| HXL | Hexcel Corp | $4,778 |
| 600372.SS | China Avionics Systems Co Ltd | $4,736 |
| CW | Curtiss-Wright Corp | $4,356 |
| ESLT.O | Elbit Systems Ltd | $4,333 |
| MGGT.L | Meggitt PLC | $4,305 |
| 600038.SS | Avicopter PLC | $4,140 |
| 2357.HK | AviChina Industry & Technology Co Ltd | $4,108 |
| BWXT.K | BWX Technologies Inc | $3,892 |
| BBDb.TO | Bombardier Inc | $3,884 |
| ERJ | Embraer SA | $3,687 |
| COB.L | Cobham PLC | $3,424 |
| 600879.SS | China Aerospace Times Electronics Co Ltd | $2,853 |
| 600435.SS | North Navigation Control Technology Co Ltd | $2,817 |