Vanguard does not offer an aerospace and defense ETF. Its sector lineup stops at broad GICS sectors, so the closest in-house option is the Vanguard Industrials ETF (VIS), which holds about 24% in aerospace and defense names. If you want a pure-play fund, you can buy ITA, XAR, or PPA commission-free through a Vanguard brokerage account.
The Closest Vanguard Fund: VIS
The Vanguard Industrials ETF (VIS) tracks the MSCI US Investable Market Industrials 25/50 Index. As of February 2026, aerospace and defense stocks make up 24.12% of the portfolio, the single largest sub-industry in the fund. The expense ratio is 0.09%.
The top holdings mix defense contractors with other industrial giants. GE Aerospace (listed as General Electric) leads the entire fund at 5.09%, though its revenue mix extends beyond pure defense. RTX Corporation sits at 3.83%, Boeing at 2.51%, and Lockheed Martin at 1.93%. The rest of the top ten goes to companies like Caterpillar, Deere, and Uber. So VIS gives you a meaningful A&D tilt inside a diversified industrials fund, not concentrated exposure.
What About VTI?
The Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF holds essentially every publicly traded U.S. stock, including every aerospace and defense company. With 3,503 holdings as of February 2026, any single sub-industry’s weight is tiny. A&D is in there, but diluted across the entire domestic equity market. VTI works if you want total-market diversification and are content with whatever A&D exposure comes along for the ride.
Dedicated A&D ETFs You Can Buy Through Vanguard
Three ETFs dominate the pure-play A&D space, and all three trade with no commission through a Vanguard brokerage account. They weight their holdings differently, and that difference affects what you actually own.
iShares U.S. Aerospace and Defense ETF (ITA)
ITA is the largest of the three, with roughly $12.9 billion in net assets as of March 2026. It tracks the Dow Jones U.S. Select Aerospace & Defense Index and uses market-cap weighting, so the biggest companies dominate the portfolio. A strong quarter from GE Aerospace or RTX moves ITA more than it moves the alternatives. Expense ratio: 0.38%.
SPDR S&P Aerospace and Defense ETF (XAR)
XAR tracks the S&P Aerospace & Defense Select Industry Index using equal weighting. Instead of letting mega-caps take over, XAR spreads money more evenly across holdings, which gives mid-cap and small-cap defense companies a bigger voice. That means more exposure to smaller suppliers and emerging defense-tech firms. Assets sit around $5.5 billion, and the expense ratio is 0.35%.
Invesco Aerospace and Defense ETF (PPA)
PPA tracks the SPADE Defense Index, which focuses on companies involved in the development, manufacturing, and support of U.S. defense, homeland security, and aerospace operations. It has approximately $7.4 billion in assets. The expense ratio of 0.58% is the highest of the three, reflecting the more specialized index it follows.
Cost Comparison
Expense ratios compound, and the gap between these funds is wide enough to matter over a long holding period:
- VIS (Vanguard Industrials): 0.09%, but only about 24% A&D exposure
- XAR (SPDR): 0.35%, equal-weighted with the strongest small-cap tilt
- ITA (iShares): 0.38%, largest fund, market-cap weighted and dominated by mega-caps
- PPA (Invesco): 0.58%, defense and homeland security focus, narrowest mandate
On a $50,000 investment, the annual fee difference between VIS and PPA works out to about $245. That gap widens as the balance grows. Cost-conscious investors who accept the broader industrials exposure in VIS save meaningfully over time. Investors who want pure A&D concentration pay for it.
If You Want to Avoid Defense Instead
Coming at this from the opposite direction? Vanguard’s ESG U.S. Stock ETF (ESGV) screens out companies involved in conventional military weapons, nuclear weapons, chemical and biological weapons, cluster munitions, anti-personnel landmines, and civilian firearms. Major defense contractors including Lockheed Martin, RTX, and Northrop Grumman are excluded from ESGV’s holdings.