Few nations in the game
Global military spending has increased yearly since 2014. The USA, China, India, the UK, and Russia account for over 60 percent of the total spending. While much of the spending goes to paying the soldiers, substantial amounts are also spent on tanks, ships, planes, and high-intelligence software.
The governments as customers
The defense industry is generally highly competitive, with a group of companies fighting for contracts from a limited number of extremely picky customers - the governments.
The six largest defense contractors have together returned an average of 421 percent (dividends included), over the past ten years, compared to the S&P 500’s 240 percent. And rising geopolitical risks around the world indicate that governments will keep spending heavily on the industry in the coming years.