# Defense ETFs: All 22 Compared by Size & Fees

> Compare all 22 defense ETFs by net assets, fee, one-year return and what they hold, as of Oct 21, 2026. Measured by holdings, not by name.

Data as of Oct 21, 2026. Rebuilt every trading night.

Data as of Oct 21, 2026 .

## Defense ETFs: all 22 compared

See every defense ETF by what it holds, not by its name. Funds that hold defence primes, weapons and munitions makers, and military aerospace and electronics suppliers. 22 funds, largest first. Updated Oct 21, 2026. The typical fund carries 41% of its weight in S&P 500 names, the 17th most of the 53 themes with filed books.

22 US listed defense ETFs

$11.9bn The largest, ITA

0.10% The cheapest, GCAD

+10.8% Best one year, FOWF

### The short answers

Least like the S&P 500 EUAD , Select STOXX Europe Aerospace & Defense ETF, 0.0% of its weight in S&P 500 companies. Closest pair ITA and PPA , 71% of their weight in the same companies.

### What these funds actually own

Between them the 22 funds' ten largest holdings name 117 companies, of which 28 appear in more than one. LOCKHEED MARTIN is among the ten largest of 13 of them, at an average of 5.4% of the fund.

| Company | Among the ten largest of | Average weight where it is | Largest, and in which fund |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| LOCKHEED MARTIN LMT | 13 of 22 | 5.4% | 8.6% in PPA |
| RTX RTX | 12 of 22 | 7.7% | 16.9% in ITA |
| GENERAL DYNAMICS CORP GD | 11 of 22 | 5.1% | 7.9% in FOWF |
| L3HARRIS TECHNOLOGIES LHX | 10 of 22 | 3.8% | 6.8% in DUTY |
| NORTHROP GRUMMAN CORP NOC | 9 of 22 | 4.8% | 6.6% in DUTY |
| BOEING BA | 8 of 22 | 6.5% | 8.9% in PPA |
| PALANTIR TECHNOLOGIES CLASS A PLTR | 7 of 22 | 5.4% | 7.5% in MISL |
| GE AEROSPACE GE | 5 of 22 | 11.4% | 20.2% in ITA |
| TRANSDIGM GROUP TDG | 5 of 22 | 3.8% | 4.8% in ITA |
| BAE SYSTEMS PLC BA/ | 4 of 22 | 6.5% | 10.1% in WDEF |
| Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC RR/ | 4 of 22 | 6.1% | 8.6% in XDEF |
| AIRBUS GROUP AIR | 4 of 22 | 5.4% | 8.7% in XDEF |
| THALES SA HO | 4 of 22 | 5.0% | 10.0% in WDEF |
| HOWMET AEROSPACE HWM | 4 of 22 | 4.3% | 4.8% in NATO |
| RHEINMETALL AG RHM | 3 of 22 | 6.6% | 8.6% in WDEF |

The 15 most widely held of 117. Each row counts the ten largest holdings of each fund, so a fund missing from a row may still hold that company lower down. Weights are of the funds that name it, not of the theme.

### The 10 largest defense ETFs

ETFIQ covers 22 defense ETFs. The largest are ITA ( $11.9bn ), PPA ( $7.4bn ) and SHLD ( $6.3bn ); fees run 0.10% to 0.75% , as of Oct 12 to 20, 2026 .

- ITA iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF $11.9bn 0.37%

- PPA Invesco Aerospace & Defense ETF $7.4bn 0.58%

- SHLD Global X Defense Tech ETF $6.3bn 0.50%

- XAR State Street SPDR S&P Aerospace & Defense ETF $5.0bn 0.35%

- IDEF iShares Defense Industrials and Tech Active ETF $3.6bn 0.55%

- EUAD Select STOXX Europe Aerospace & Defense ETF $1.2bn 0.50%

- MISL First Trust Indxx Aerospace & Defense ETF $667m 0.60%

- KDEF PLUS Korea Defense Industry Index ETF $157m 0.65%

- NATO Themes Transatlantic Defense ETF $101m 0.35%

- WDEF WisdomTree Europe Defense Fund $88m 0.45%

| Ticker | Fund | Issuer | Net assets | In the S&P 500 | Active share | Total return 1Y | vs its benchmark 1Y | Fee |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| ITA | iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF | iShares | $11.9bn | 80.5% | 97.7% | −3.3% | not measured | 0.37% |
| PPA | Invesco Aerospace & Defense ETF | Invesco | $7.4bn | 76.9% | 96.4% | −0.1% | −16.6 pts vs IVV | 0.58% |
| SHLD | Global X Defense Tech ETF | Global X | $6.3bn | 44.6% | 98.7% | −8.0% | not measured | 0.50% |
| XAR | State Street SPDR S&P Aerospace & Defense ETF | State Street | $5.0bn | 39.5% | 97.7% | −8.5% | −25.0 pts vs VOO | 0.35% |
| IDEF | iShares Defense Industrials and Tech Active ETF | iShares | $3.6bn | 41.7% | 92.2% | −3.9% | not measured | 0.55% |
| EUAD | Select STOXX Europe Aerospace & Defense ETF | Tuttle | $1.2bn | 0.0% | 100.0% | −8.4% | not measured | 0.50% |
| MISL | First Trust Indxx Aerospace & Defense ETF | First Trust | $667m | 66.1% | 97.4% | −3.8% | −20.3 pts vs VOO | 0.60% |
| KDEF | PLUS Korea Defense Industry Index ETF | PLUS | $157m | 0.0% | 100.0% | −17.3% | not measured | 0.65% |
| NATO | Themes Transatlantic Defense ETF | Themes | $101m | 58.2% | 97.6% | −5.4% | −21.4 pts vs ACWI | 0.35% |
| WDEF | WisdomTree Europe Defense Fund | WisdomTree | $88m | 0.0% | 100.0% | −9.0% | not measured | 0.45% |
| GCAD | Gabelli Commercial Aerospace and Defense ETF | Gabelli | $44m | 40.1% | 97.2% | +9.4% | −7.2 pts vs VOO | 0.10% |
| WAR | U.S. Global Technology and Aerospace & Defense ETF | U.S. Global | $41m | 38.1% | 92.5% | first traded 148 days ago | · | 0.60% |
| WDAF | WisdomTree Asia Defense Fund | WisdomTree | $22m | 0.0% | 100.0% | −10.6% | not measured | 0.45% |
| FOWF | Pacer Solactive Whitney Future of Warfare ETF | Pacer | $14m | 74.8% | 88.4% | +10.8% | −4.9 pts vs URTH | 0.49% |
| ARMY | Tema International Defense ETF | Tema | $13m | 11.7% | 98.4% | first traded 204 days ago | · | 0.68% |
| TSSD | Truth Social American Security & Defense ETF | Yorkville | $7m | 71.4% | 97.6% | first traded 295 days ago | · | 0.65% |
| WDGF | WisdomTree Global Defense Fund | WisdomTree | $5m | 34.9% | 98.3% | −4.5% | −20.6 pts vs ACWI | 0.45% |
| XDEF | Xtrackers Europe Defense Technologies ETF | Xtrackers | $4m | 0.0% | 100.0% | first traded 244 days ago | · | 0.35% |
| AMMO | VistaShares Defense Supercycle ETF | VistaShares | $3m | 14.1% | 99.1% | first traded 97 days ago | · | 0.75% |
| DUTY | U.S. Defense ETF | Aura | $2m | 61.7% | 98.1% | first traded 196 days ago | · | 0.45% |
| WR | Corgi U.S. War Machine ETF | Corgi | $976,650 | 68.8% | 96.6% | first traded 168 days ago | · | 0.35% |
| AV | Corgi Aerospace & Commercial Aviation ETF | Corgi | $754,014 | 66.4% | 97.6% | first traded 168 days ago | · | 0.35% |

### How much of each pair is the same fund

The closest pair is ITA and PPA , which hold 71% of their weight in the same companies. The furthest apart is WDEF and XAR at 0%. The middle pair of the 45 is 26%. The grid is the 10 largest of 22 funds.

| | ITA | PPA | SHLD | XAR | IDEF | EUAD | MISL | KDEF | NATO | WDEF |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| ITA | · | 71% | 29% | 54% | 36% | 0% | 67% | 0% | 63% | 0% |
| PPA | 71% | · | 40% | 48% | 45% | 0% | 69% | 0% | 59% | 0% |
| SHLD | 29% | 40% | · | 28% | 38% | 0% | 40% | 8% | 35% | 28% |
| XAR | 54% | 48% | 28% | · | 31% | 0% | 53% | 0% | 43% | 0% |
| IDEF | 36% | 45% | 38% | 31% | · | 13% | 43% | 4% | 46% | 18% |
| EUAD | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 13% | · | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| MISL | 67% | 69% | 40% | 53% | 43% | 0% | · | 0% | 57% | 0% |
| KDEF | 0% | 0% | 8% | 0% | 4% | 0% | 0% | · | 0% | 0% |
| NATO | 63% | 59% | 35% | 43% | 46% | 0% | 57% | 0% | · | 26% |
| WDEF | 0% | 0% | 28% | 0% | 18% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 26% | · |

Weight overlap adds the smaller of the two weights for every company both funds hold. Funds with a cut-short book are left out, not compared short.

### What each fund holds alone

| Fund | Largest holding it alone has | Weight | All of its own names |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| ITA | HEICO HEI | 1.0% | 1.0% |
| PPA | Parker-Hannifin Corp PH | 3.6% | 6.8% |
| SHLD | BIGBEAR.AI HOLDINGS, INC. | 0.4% | 0.8% |
| IDEF | SAAB CLASS B SAAB.B | 1.8% | 23.4% |
| EUAD | Leonardo SpA | 3.2% | 10.4% |
| MISL | AST SpaceMobile, Inc. ASTS | 1.8% | 1.8% |
| KDEF | FIRSTEC COMPANY LTD | 4.5% | 37.2% |
| NATO | Honeywell International Inc HON | 3.1% | 3.9% |
| WDEF | INDRA SISTEMAS SA IDR | 3.0% | 11.2% |

### Questions people ask

How many defense ETFs are there? ETFIQ covers 22 US listed defense ETFs as of Oct 21, 2026. That is every one it can measure from the fund’s own published holdings. What is the largest defense ETF? ITA , iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF, at $11.9bn in net assets as of Oct 20, 2026, the largest of the 22 defense ETFs with a published size. What is the cheapest defense ETF? GCAD , Gabelli Commercial Aerospace and Defense ETF, at 0.10% a year by its prospectus filed May 5, 2026, the lowest fee of the 22 defense ETFs that publish one. Which defense ETF has performed best over the past year? FOWF , Pacer Solactive Whitney Future of Warfare ETF, at +10.8% total return over the year to Oct 21, 2026, the highest of the 14 defense ETFs with a full year of trading behind them. Past returns do not predict future ones. What do defense ETFs hold? Funds that hold defence primes, weapons and munitions makers, and military aerospace and electronics suppliers. Between them the 22 defense ETFs ETFIQ can read name 117 companies in their ten largest holdings, by holdings dated May 31, 2026 to Oct 21, 2026, most widely LOCKHEED MARTIN, which is among the ten largest of 13 of them. Do defense ETFs hold the same companies? It depends which two. Across the 45 pairs of the 10 defense ETFs with a full published book, by holdings dated May 31, 2026 to Oct 20, 2026, ITA and PPA hold 71% of their weight in the same companies, WDEF and XAR hold 0%, and the middle pair holds 26%. Two funds sold on one theme are not the same fund.

### What the issuers say about this theme

The issuers behind these defense funds publish their own work on this theme. These are their pages and words, not ETFIQ’s. A fund company writing about a theme it sells is making a case.

| Issuer | What they publish | Kind |
| --- | --- | --- |
| iShares | iShares Portfolio Insights | Their research index |
| Invesco | Invesco insights | Their research index |
| Global X | Global X Insights, including The Next Big Theme | Their research index |
| First Trust | First Trust Investment Insights | Their research index |
| Themes | Themes ETFs: why transatlantic defense | On this theme |
| WisdomTree | WisdomTree blog | Their research index |
| Tema | Tema ETFs insights | Their research index |

### Where to next

### Where these figures came from

ETFIQ links to the documents behind every figure; a link is not an endorsement.

ETFIQ is an independent publisher and makes no recommendations. Standards and sources

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Source: ETFIQ, independent ETF data. Recomputed nightly from public filings and prices.
Cite: ETFIQ, Defense ETFs: all 22 compared, data as of Oct 21, 2026. https://etfiq.com/themes/defense
Licence: https://etfiq.com/license/ Figures ETFIQ computes are free to use with attribution: ETFIQ (etfiq.com). Issuer data stays under its owner's terms.
HTML: https://etfiq.com/themes/defense