Al Root
Ukrainian officials allege that Russia fired an intercontinental ballistic missile, or ICBM, into their country. It's a troubling escalation of the war that has been waging for almost three years.
Ukraine said the missile targeted the city of Dnipro, located about 300 miles southeast of Kyiv.
ICBMs, as the name implies, can strike targets thousands of miles away. They can carry conventional warheads, but were mainly designed to carry nuclear weapons.
Russian President Vladimir Putin essentially made nuclear war more likely with a recent update to the country's nuclear doctrine, which allows him to respond to conventional attacks with nuclear weapons. The change in stance came after Ukraine recently fired U.S.-made long-range missiles into Russia.
The U.S., of course, has an arsenal of ICBMs, made by Lockheed Martin, Boeing, and Northrop Grumman.
Lockheed makes the Trident missile for the Navy -- the only submarine-launched intercontinental ballistic missile currently in production in the U.S., according to the company.
Northrop is the prime contractor on the Sentinel ICBM, which is replacing the Minuteman missile made by Boeing, which stands roughly 60 feet high.
The Sentinel and Minuteman represent the ground-based leg of the so-called nuclear triad, which refers to the ability to launch nuclear weapons from land, sea, and air.
Northrop also makes the stealth bombers that form the air-based leg of the triad.
Lockheed shares were up 0.2% in early trading Thursday. Northrop and Boeing stocks were off 0.3% and 0.5%, respectively. The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average were down 0.2% and 0.1%, respectively.
Through early Thursday, shares of the three were mixed for the week: Lockheed stock was up a little, Northrop stock was down, and Boeing shares were up about 3%. Boeing, however, trades more with commercial aerospace news; its stock is has slumped about 45% year to date after quality and labor problems have constrained plane production.
Through early trading, shares of major defense contractors have fallen about 4% since the Nov. 5 presidential election, while the S&P 500 has risen about 2%.
There is some uncertainty about what President-elect Donald Trump's security appointments mean for defense spending -- and investors never like uncertainty.
Write to Al Root at allen.root@dowjones.com
This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 21, 2024 10:30 ET (15:30 GMT)
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