Annual Sales $3.3 billion

Rank 2nd (Revenue between $1-5 billion)

Average Five-Year Score Improvement 18th (up 0.9%)

Indra is part of a breed of smaller players bucking continental Europe's A&D climate of high volatility, political meddling and unpredictable results. The Spanish company has carved out a niche in defense electronics and positioned itself as a reliable and more nimble alternative to some of its large regional counterparts. But Indra's rapid growth--its sales nearly doubled in 200--has made it more difficult to generate huge gains in key metrics such as return on invested capital, dragging down its ranking in the improvement category.