At a glance
Defense contractor statistics are easiest to read when you group them by company size, backlog strength, and segment mix. The dataset here is concentrated in a handful of major U.S. primes, but the numbers still show how different business models translate into revenue, backlog, and cash returns.
Big number: Boeing reported $521 billion in total company backlog at year-end 2024 (Boeing Q4 2024 results).
Fast facts
- Lockheed Martin reported $71.043 billion in 2024 total net sales, up from $67.571 billion in 2023 (Lockheed Martin 2024 Annual Report).
- RTX ended 2024 with $218 billion in total backlog, including $125 billion commercial backlog and $93 billion defense backlog (RTX 2024 Annual Report; RTX January 2025 earnings release).
- General Dynamics ended 2024 with $90.6 billion in backlog (General Dynamics Q4 2024 earnings release).
- L3Harris reported $21.9 billion in full-year 2024 revenue (L3Harris FY2024 earnings release).
- Huntington Ingalls reported $48.7 billion in total backlog at December 31, 2024 (HII 2024 Q4 earnings release).
Defense contractor statistics table: the biggest numbers side by side
When you compare the core primes, the most useful first pass is revenue, backlog, and profit. That combination shows both current scale and future demand visibility.
| Company | 2024 revenue or sales | Backlog | Notable extra statistic |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lockheed Martin | $71.043B net sales (Lockheed Martin 2024 Annual Report) | $176.0B backlog (Lockheed Martin 2024 Annual Report) | $5.3B free cash flow (Lockheed Martin 2024 proxy/annual report) |
| RTX | Organic net sales increased by $2.1B in 2024 vs. 2023 (RTX 2024 Annual Report) | $218B total backlog (RTX 2024 Annual Report) | About 25% of backlog expected to convert to revenue in the next 12 months (RTX 2024 Annual Report) |
| General Dynamics | $13.3B Q4 2024 revenue (General Dynamics Q4 2024 earnings release) | $90.6B backlog (General Dynamics Q4 2024 earnings release) | $53.4B estimated potential contract value from unfunded IDIQ contracts and unexercised options (General Dynamics Q4 2024 earnings release) |
| L3Harris | $21.9B FY2024 revenue (L3Harris FY2024 earnings release) | $33B record backlog in FY2023 and continued strong backlog into FY2024 (L3Harris FY2023/FY2024 earnings releases) | Communications Systems operating margin of 24.3% (L3Harris 2024 Annual Report) |
| Huntington Ingalls | $3.004B Q4 2024 revenue (HII Q4 2024 earnings presentation) | $48.7B total backlog (HII 2024 Q4 earnings release) | $573M 2024 segment operating income (HII 2024 Q4 earnings release) |
| Boeing | Not provided in the dataset | $521B total company backlog (Boeing Q4 2024 results) | 348 commercial airplane deliveries and 279 net orders in 2024 (Boeing Q4 2024 results) |
What the revenue numbers say about defense contractor statistics
The revenue data in this set does not point to one single definition of success. Some contractors are gigantic in absolute sales, while others are smaller but more specialized.
Lockheed Martin sits at the top of the revenue set provided here with $71.043 billion in 2024 total net sales (Lockheed Martin 2024 Annual Report). That scale is reinforced by the company’s business mix: Aeronautics alone produced $28.618 billion, while Rotary and Mission Systems contributed $17.264 billion, Missiles and Fire Control added $12.682 billion, and Space contributed $12.479 billion in 2024 (Lockheed Martin 2024 Annual Report). Those segment totals show a diversified defense portfolio rather than dependence on a single line of business.
RTX gives a different picture. The dataset highlights a $2.1 billion increase in organic net sales in 2024 versus 2023, with $1.2 billion coming from higher commercial aerospace aftermarket sales and $0.8 billion from higher defense sales (RTX 2024 Annual Report). That matters because it shows how a contractor can grow through both military and commercial activity, not just one lane.
General Dynamics is more restrained in the figures provided, but the company still posted $13.3 billion in fourth-quarter 2024 revenue and $1.1 billion in net earnings for that quarter (General Dynamics Q4 2024 earnings release). Even with a smaller total than Lockheed Martin, the quarter shows how stable large defense businesses can be when program execution and backlog remain intact.
L3Harris is a useful comparison case because its revenue base is smaller, but still substantial at $21.9 billion in FY2024 (L3Harris FY2024 earnings release). That number helps illustrate an important pattern in defense contractor statistics: a company does not need the largest top line in the group to be highly relevant in specific niches.
Huntington Ingalls is the clearest example of a narrower, shipbuilding-focused business in the set. Its $3.004 billion of Q4 2024 revenue is much smaller than the diversified primes, but it still supports a large backlog and meaningful operating income (HII Q4 2024 earnings presentation; HII 2024 Q4 earnings release).
Backlog is the most revealing defense contractor statistic
For defense contractors, backlog often tells you more than a single year of sales. Revenue reflects what has already converted; backlog reflects what is still waiting in the pipeline.
Backlog comparison
- Boeing: $521 billion total company backlog at year-end 2024 (Boeing Q4 2024 results).
- RTX: $218 billion total backlog as of December 31, 2024 (RTX 2024 Annual Report).
- Lockheed Martin: $176.0 billion backlog at the end of 2024 (Lockheed Martin 2024 Annual Report).
- General Dynamics: $90.6 billion backlog at year-end 2024 (General Dynamics Q4 2024 earnings release).
- Huntington Ingalls: $48.7 billion total backlog at December 31, 2024 (HII 2024 Q4 earnings release).
- L3Harris: record $33 billion backlog in FY2023 and continued strong backlog into FY2024 (L3Harris FY2023/FY2024 earnings releases).
The gap between Boeing and the rest of the group is striking, but the ranking still matters because it shows where future work is already booked. RTX and Lockheed Martin also stand out as companies with enough backlog to support sustained execution across multiple business units.
Pull quote: Backlog is not revenue yet, but in defense it is often the clearest signal of how much future workload is already in the system.
What backlog can and cannot tell you
Backlog does not automatically mean immediate cash flow. Different contractors convert backlog at different speeds, and the dataset shows that conversion timing is part of the story.
- RTX expected approximately 25% of total backlog to be recognized as revenue over the next 12 months (RTX 2024 Annual Report).
- General Dynamics disclosed $53.4 billion of estimated potential contract value from unfunded IDIQ contracts and unexercised options at year-end 2024 (General Dynamics Q4 2024 earnings release).
- Huntington Ingalls recognized $938 million of revenue related to prior year-end contract liabilities in 2024 (HII 2024 Annual Report).
That combination suggests a layered pipeline: booked backlog, option value, and contract liabilities can all support future revenue, but they are not interchangeable.
Segment mix matters as much as size
Defense contractor statistics become more useful when you stop looking only at consolidated revenue and start looking at segment composition.
Lockheed Martin’s segment breakdown shows a broad industrial footprint:
- Aeronautics: $28.618 billion (Lockheed Martin 2024 Annual Report)
- Rotary and Mission Systems: $17.264 billion (Lockheed Martin 2024 Annual Report)
- Missiles and Fire Control: $12.682 billion (Lockheed Martin 2024 Annual Report)
- Space: $12.479 billion (Lockheed Martin 2024 Annual Report)
The split is important because it shows how a prime can absorb weakness in one area with strength in another.
RTX’s dataset points to a different structure. The company reported 57,000 engineering professionals and 34,000 employees represented by labor unions and other employee representative bodies as of December 31, 2024 (RTX 2024 Annual Report). Those workforce figures do not describe sales by segment directly, but they do show the industrial scale needed to support a diversified aerospace and defense enterprise.
L3Harris is narrower but highly profitable in the segments provided:
- Communications Systems revenue: $5.459 billion (L3Harris 2024 Annual Report)
- Communications Systems operating income: $1.324 billion (L3Harris 2024 Annual Report)
- Communications Systems operating margin: 24.3% (L3Harris 2024 Annual Report)
- Communications Systems backlog: $7.3 billion at January 3, 2025 (L3Harris 2024 Annual Report)
- Aerojet Rocketdyne revenue: $2.347 billion (L3Harris 2024 Annual Report)
- Aerojet Rocketdyne operating income: $294 million (L3Harris 2024 Annual Report)
- Aerojet Rocketdyne backlog: $7.0 billion at January 3, 2025 (L3Harris 2024 Annual Report)
That margin profile is one of the most notable numbers in the dataset because it shows how a specialized defense contractor can generate strong operating profit even with a smaller revenue base.
Profitability and cash flow are the second layer of defense contractor statistics
Revenue is important, but profit and cash generation tell you whether the business is turning scale into durable returns.
Lockheed Martin reported $6.083 billion of total business segment operating profit in 2024 (Lockheed Martin 2024 Annual Report). It also recorded a $1.624 billion FAS/CAS pension operating adjustment in 2024 (Lockheed Martin 2024 Annual Report). Those two figures together highlight a key reality in defense accounting: reported operating performance can be shaped by large pension and contract-related items.
Lockheed Martin also generated $5.3 billion of free cash flow in 2024 and returned $6.8 billion of cash to stockholders, including $3.7 billion of share repurchases and $3.1 billion of cash dividends (Lockheed Martin 2024 proxy/annual report). That is one of the clearest cash-return stories in the dataset.
General Dynamics reported $1.1 billion of fourth-quarter 2024 net earnings (General Dynamics Q4 2024 earnings release). Huntington Ingalls reported $573 million of 2024 segment operating income and a 5.0% segment operating margin (HII 2024 Q4 earnings release). Those numbers are lower than the large diversified primes, but they matter because they show how shipbuilding and naval systems can remain profitable at different scales.
RTX also posted a 2024 organic operating profit increase of $0.6 billion versus 2023, with $0.4 billion of that coming from commercial aerospace and $0.3 billion from defense (RTX 2024 Annual Report). That spread is useful because it links profit growth to the mix of end markets rather than to one isolated program.
Workforce statistics reveal how labor-intensive the sector is
Defense contractor statistics are not only about sales and backlog. Headcount tells you how much engineering, production, and compliance capacity sits behind the numbers.
RTX reported approximately 186,000 global employees as of December 31, 2024 (RTX 2024 Annual Report). Within that, it also listed roughly 57,000 engineering professionals and approximately 34,000 employees represented by labor unions and other employee representative bodies (RTX 2024 Annual Report). Those figures show an industrial workforce with both technical depth and large-scale production exposure.
This matters because defense programs usually require long development cycles, specialized engineering, and manufacturing discipline. A company with a large engineering base can support complex platforms, sustainment work, and integration programs over many years.
Contract structure changes the meaning of every headline number
The dataset includes a useful reminder that not all defense revenue comes from the same kind of contract.
General Dynamics reported $53.4 billion of estimated potential contract value from unfunded IDIQ contracts and unexercised options at year-end 2024 (General Dynamics Q4 2024 earnings release). That is not the same thing as booked backlog, but it is still a meaningful indicator of possible future work.
Huntington Ingalls recognized $938 million of revenue related to prior year-end contract liabilities in 2024 (HII 2024 Annual Report). That figure shows how balance-sheet items can flow into reported revenue as contracts move forward.
RTX’s note that about 25% of total backlog is expected to be recognized over the next 12 months (RTX 2024 Annual Report) is also important. It tells you that backlog can have a fairly short near-term conversion window even in a very large company, depending on the mix of work.
Reading defense contractor statistics by business model
The most practical way to use these numbers is to classify the companies by what kind of defense contractor they are.
Large diversified primes
- Lockheed Martin combines high revenue, broad segment diversification, strong backlog, and major cash returns (Lockheed Martin 2024 Annual Report; Lockheed Martin 2024 proxy/annual report).
- RTX combines large backlog with a mixed commercial-defense portfolio and meaningful engineering scale (RTX 2024 Annual Report; RTX January 2025 earnings release).
- Boeing, while not purely a defense contractor in this dataset, still dominates the backlog table at $521 billion (Boeing Q4 2024 results).
Specialized or narrower operators
- General Dynamics shows a strong backlog base and large aerospace and defense footprint, but the dataset emphasizes quarterly performance and optional contract value more than top-line scale (General Dynamics Q4 2024 earnings release; General Dynamics 2024 Annual Report).
- L3Harris stands out for profitability and segment margin, especially in Communications Systems (L3Harris 2024 Annual Report).
- Huntington Ingalls shows how a shipbuilding-focused defense company can operate with a smaller revenue base while maintaining a large backlog and measurable operating income (HII 2024 Q4 earnings release).
What the comparison implies
- Bigger backlog does not always mean higher current revenue.
- Higher revenue does not always mean the best margins.
- A strong segment mix can stabilize a contractor even when one part of the business slows.
- Cash generation and stockholder returns can be as important as top-line size for evaluating contractor quality.
Practical takeaways from the 2024 defense contractor statistics
If you strip the dataset down to the most decision-useful facts, a few patterns stand out.
- Lockheed Martin is the clearest example of a large, diversified defense prime with strong sales, broad segment coverage, and meaningful free cash flow (Lockheed Martin 2024 Annual Report; Lockheed Martin 2024 proxy/annual report).
- RTX shows how backlog, engineering scale, and mixed commercial-defense exposure can coexist in one enterprise (RTX 2024 Annual Report; RTX January 2025 earnings release).
- General Dynamics demonstrates the value of looking beyond revenue to backlog and optional contract value (General Dynamics Q4 2024 earnings release).
- L3Harris is the strongest margin story in the data provided for a narrower contractor segment (L3Harris 2024 Annual Report).
- Huntington Ingalls reinforces that backlog and operating income can remain important even when revenue scale is smaller (HII 2024 Q4 earnings release; HII 2024 Annual Report).
- Boeing’s backlog figure dwarfs the rest of the dataset, which makes it a useful reference point even though the set does not provide full revenue details for comparison (Boeing Q4 2024 results).
The most useful way to read defense contractor statistics is not to pick one headline number and stop there. Look at sales, backlog, operating profit, cash flow, and contract structure together, because each one explains a different part of how these businesses actually work.