ITA vs. EUAD: Which Surging Defense ETF is Best?

Shares of Boeing Co. (BA) surged this week after the company announced a massive deal to sell 210 airplanes to Qatar Airways, a vote of confidence in the embattled aerospace giant. The stock jumped to its highest level in nearly 18 months, providing a big boost to the iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF (ITA), where Boeing is the third-largest holding with a 10.3% weighting.

Only GE Aerospace (GE), at 20.3%, and RTX Corp. (RTX), at 14.7%, carry more weight in the $6.9 billion fund, which is up nearly 17% year to date. That’s an impressive return in a year when the S&P 500 is essentially flat.

EUAD Takes Off in 2025

But Boeing and ITA aren’t the only aerospace and defense names flying high in 2025. The real standout this year has been the Select STOXX Europe Aerospace & Defense ETF (EUAD), which has surged 55%, making it the best-performing, nonleveraged, U.S.-listed ETF so far this year.

EUAD has been riding a wave of rising European defense spending, particularly in Germany, where military outlays have soared in response to growing geopolitical tensions with Russia. 

The Trump administration has also added fuel to the fire. President Donald Trump has pressured NATO allies to increase military expenditures, even warning that the U.S. may not come to their defense if they fail to meet their commitments. That kind of political uncertainty has pushed Europe to act, and investors have followed.

EUAD vs. ITA Metrics

EUAD has pulled in $609 million in net inflows this year, ballooning assets under management to $656 million. In contrast, investors have pulled $142 million from ITA.

While both ETFs track the aerospace and defense sector, they focus on different geographies. ITA follows the Dow Jones U.S. Select Aerospace & Defense Index and is composed entirely of U.S. companies. EUAD, which launched in October 2024, tracks the STOXX Europe Total Market Aerospace & Defense Index, composed of European companies in the civil and military defense space.

EUAD is also more concentrated. It holds just 14 names versus ITA’s 38. Its top five holdings—Airbus, Safran, Rheinmetall, BAE Systems and Rolls-Royce—account for 80% of the portfolio. ITA’s top five make up 56%.

ITA vs. EUAD—Source: ETF Comparison Tool, FactSet data

The two funds are priced similarly, with EUAD charging a 0.5% expense ratio and ITA charging 0.4%.

Both ETFs have benefited from the growth of global defense spending, but with Europe playing catch-up, EUAD has had more room to run.

Compare ITA and EUAD side by side using etf.com’s Fund Comparison Tool.