US Sec of War Hegseth: Iran cannot have nuclear weapons and takes guts to enforce that

Comments from U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth

• U.S. will conclude operations under “America First” conditions.

• Iran was building a shield for nuclear ambition

• This is not an endless war.

• Iran operation will include casualties.

• Operation is not directed at Iraq and is not an endless war.

• U.S. mission in Iran is to destroy Iran’s missiles, navy, and deny Tehran nuclear weapons capability.

• Conflict is not a regime-change war, although he noted the regime “did change.”

• We did not start this war, but under Trump we are finishing it

• Iran has long range strike capability

The top US general Caine:

• This is not a single overnight operation.
• We expect to take additional losses.
• This is major combat operations
• Flow of forces to reaching continues

The flow of news will be focused on the war over the near term.

Some defense companies that are beneficiaries:

• RTX Corp; +6.34%
• Lockheed Martin +5.15%
• Northrup Grumman: +4.64%
• Generarl Dynamic +2.23%
• Exxon +4.52%
• Shell +1.58%
• Chevron +3.56%
• Barrick Mining +2.21

What about the top U.S. Defense ETFs

ITA — The industry benchmark

Best for: Large-cap U.S. defense exposure

• Largest defense ETF (~$15B+ assets)

• Tracks U.S. aerospace & defense companies

• Heavy exposure to prime contractors

Top holdings typically include:

• Lockheed Martin

• RTX (Raytheon)

• Northrop Grumman

• Boeing

• General Dynamics

✅ Institutional favorite
✅ Direct play on Pentagon spending
⚠️ More concentrated in mega caps

PPA — Balanced exposure

Best for: Diversified defense allocation

• Tracks SPADE Defense Index

• Expense ratio ~0.58–0.61%

• Modified weighting reduces dominance of largest firms

Why investors use it

• Better diversification than ITA

• Includes suppliers + mid-tier contractors

✅ More balanced risk profile
✅ Broad defense ecosystem exposure

XAR — Equal-weight strategy

Best for: Growth & smaller defense names

• Equal-weighted holdings (unique structure)

• Less dependent on a few giants

• Expense ratio ~0.35%

• Strong recent performance (+60% past year cited)

✅ Higher upside in defense cycles
⚠️ More volatility

SHLD — Next-generation warfare

Best for: Modern defense themes

Focus areas:

• AI warfare

• drones

• cybersecurity

• space defense

Highlighted as a newer defense-tech focused ETF alongside ITA/XAR/PPA .

✅ Exposure to future battlefield tech
⚠️ Less traditional contractor exposure

DFEN — Trading vehicle

Best for: Short-term tactical trades

• 3× leveraged defense ETF

• Designed for daily trading, not long-term holding

⚠️ High risk / decay effects

This article was written by Greg Michalowski at investinglive.com.