Golden Dome Winners: Stocks on the Pentagon's SHIELD Vendor List

The Scalable Homeland Innovative Enterprise Layered Defense (SHIELD) contract is the $151 billion backbone of the Pentagon's Golden Dome initiative. 

Often compared to a modern-day Star Wars program, the Golden Dome aims to create an impenetrable, multi-layered defensive canopy over the United States to intercept everything from traditional ballistic missiles to next-generation hypersonic threats.

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To achieve this level of scale, the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) is abandoning traditional, slow-moving procurement in favor of a massive, competitive marketplace. 

By approving over 2,400 companies as vendors, the MDA is ensuring it can fast-track innovation through a series of staggered awards and rapid-fire task orders.

For investors, the vendor list represents the official pool of excellence. A spot on the list is not a guaranteed payday, it is a “license to hunt“ for a piece of one of the largest defense contracts in U.S. history.

Here are some of the most notable publicly traded companies that have been officially named to the SHIELD vendor list:

1. Aerospace & Defense Giants (The Primes)

These are the heavy hitters who typically win the largest task orders. They provide the hardware, missiles, and massive radar systems.

• Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE:LMT)
• Boeing Co. (NYSE:BA)
• L3Harris Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:LHX)
• Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. (NYSE:HII)

2. Emerging Space & Satellite Tech

Since the Golden Dome relies on eyes in the sky to track incoming threats, multiple space-tech firms have secured spots:

• AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS): Recently announced its prime contract position to provide space-based cellular and dual-use tech.
• Rocket Lab Corp. (NASDAQ:RKLB): Selected to compete for launch and orbital infrastructure tasks.
• Intuitive Machines, Inc. (NASDAQ:LUNR): Known for lunar landers, but also provides tech for in-space maneuvering and defense.
• Sidus Space, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIDU): Focused on “Space-as-a-Service” and satellite manufacturing.

3. AI, Software and Digital Defense

Modern missile defense is as much about code as it is about rockets. These companies are on the list to provide the “brains” of the system:

• Booz Allen Hamilton (NYSE:BAH): Heavily involved in AI, cyber operations and intelligence analysis.
• Palantir Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLTR): Palantir's software often underpins the data-processing layers of programs like SHIELD.
• Oracle Corp. (NYSE:ORCL): Providing the cloud infrastructure required to handle the massive data from SHIELD’s sensors.

4. Specialized Technology

• AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV): Specialists in drones and loitering munitions.
• Honeywell International Inc. (NASDAQ:HON): Provides specialized sensors, engines and navigation tech.
• Kratos Defense & Security (NASDAQ:KTOS): Known for target drones and satellite communications hardware.

Important Context for Investors

The MDA announced the staggered awards in several tranches throughout late 2025 and early 2026. These awards were distributed across a range of projects, often grouping smaller companies into categories such as Research & Development (R&D) and prototype development. 

The sheer number of companies approved as vendors for the SHIELD contract (2,400+) means that simply being on the list is not a guarantee of money and companies will still have to out-bid others for every single project.

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