The results of Aviation Week's 2012 Top-Performing Companies (TPC) study are providing fresh evidence that downturns in U.S. and European defense spending are starting to hit contractors (p. 44). BAE Systems, Finmeccanica, General Dynamics, L-3 Communications, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Raytheon all saw their TPC scores decline from last year. And the strong gains in operational efficiency made by defense primes during the past decade are showing tentative signs of weakening.

Jim McNerney smiled broadly as he bounded onto a podium in a historic hangar at Reagan Washington National Airport this month, a gleaming Boeing 787 serving as a dramatic backdrop just beyond the open hangar door. The chairman and CEO of Boeing was accepting the 2011 Robert J. Collier Trophy on behalf of the team that developed the 787, a jet that is finally in service following more than three years of delays.

One thing has been made certain by the mission launched last week to the International Space Station (ISS) by Space Exploration Technologies Inc.: governments now have someone else they can call to send their cargo into space. The demonstration of Dragon's capabilities since its May 22 launch make clear that cargo transport to the ISS can be viably outsourced to at least one commercial player.

Here is one simple lesson to be gleaned from Aviation Week's Top-Performing Companies (TPC Study): avoid overconfidence. History shows that a first-place finish is no guarantee of long-term success. Conversely, even consistently strong performers have a bad year every now and then.

As top-tier defense contractors begin to move away from an era of big-ticket weapons procurements, they are scrutinizing their portfolios in an effort to weed out lower-performing businesses. And one problem area keeps coming to the forefront: low-margin government services businesses.

Uncertainty over U.S. space policy trajectory frees other nations to chart their own paths

When the U.S. Air Force showed only a tepid interest in unmanned aircraft, a small San Diego company, General Atomics, decided to build them on its own dime. So when the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks hit and U.S. forces were suddenly sent to combat guerilla-like forces in the mountains of Afghanistan, the company's Hellfire-equipped Predators were not just a concept—they were in production.