Who makes US military aircraft?

Short answer

US military aircraft are mainly manufactured by three major groups: Lockheed Martin (F-35, F-22, F-16, C-130), Boeing (F-15EX, F/A-18, KC-46, P-8, T-7, and the upcoming F-47), and Northrop Grumman (B-2, B-21, E-2D). They are followed by General Atomics in drones, Bell and Sikorsky in helicopters, and Beechcraft in trainers (as of September 2026).

Published: September 21, 2026 · Updated: September 21, 2026 · Edited by Above Ten Thousand · Editorial policy

US Navy 091218 N-5549O 103 Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV), the Honorable Ray Mabus, receives a tour of the production line of the U S. Navy's first ever stealth fighter

The Big Three

The US military aircraft industry consolidated in the 1990s around three main contractors. Lockheed Martin, with plants in Fort Worth (Texas), Marietta (Georgia), and Palmdale (California), produces the F-35 Lightning II, the most numerous fighter of the future, and the C-130J Hercules; it built the F-22 and continues delivering F-16s from Greenville (South Carolina) for export. Its subsidiary Sikorsky manufactures the UH-60 Black Hawk and CH-53K helicopters.

Boeing, from St. Louis (Missouri), delivers the F-15EX, the F/A-18 Super Hornet and the EA-18G, the T-7 trainer and the MQ-25 drone; in Everett and Renton (Washington) it converts commercial airliners into KC-46 tankers and P-8 Poseidon patrol aircraft, and in Philadelphia it produces the CH-47 Chinook and part of the V-22 Osprey. In 2025 it won the contract for the F-47, the Air Force's sixth-generation fighter.

Northrop Grumman builds the B-21 Raider stealth bomber in Palmdale and the carrier-based E-2D early-warning aircraft in St. Augustine (Florida); it maintains the B-2 fleet and builds the center fuselage section of the F-35.

The Second Tier

General Atomics, based in San Diego, dominates armed drones with the MQ-9 Reaper. Textron builds the T-6 Texan II trainer under the Beechcraft brand and, through Bell, the AH-1Z and UH-1Y helicopters and the V-22 alongside Boeing; it is also developing the V-280 Valor, the future replacement for the Army's Black Hawk.

Engines and Systems

None of these manufacturers build their own engines: Pratt & Whitney (F135, F119, F100) and GE Aerospace (F110, F404, F414) split propulsion between them, while Raytheon, Northrop Grumman, and L3Harris supply radars and electronic warfare systems. The Pentagon buys through multiyear programs, and Congress sets the quantities each year, so the production map shifts with the budget.