The theme for this issue is “Risk in Business,” a nod to the 1983 film with Tom Cruise, who this summer (2022) stars in Top Gun: Maverick, which begins with a high-stakes defense acquisition scenario involving a prototype hypersonic aircraft. That film, as well as the articles and book reviews in this issue, all touch on the inherent nature of defense acquisition, which is to identify and manage the unknowns.

The first paper, “Innovation Transition Success: Practice Doesn’t Make Perfect” by Kaitlyn Ryan, Amy Cox, Ethan Blake, Clay Koschnick, and Alfred Thal, discusses Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) programs. The authors analyze the effectiveness of SBIR investments for encouraging innovation and development. They find that compared with large enterprises, small businesses have a small but significant increase in commercialization rate (2.6% greater).

The second paper, by Margaret Hauser, Geraldo Ferrer, and Robert Mortlock, is “Assessing Policy Changes on the Cost of Husbanding Services for Navy Ships.” It reflects on some of the changes and reforms to the Navy's husbanding service protocols in the wake of the Fat Leonard Scandal. The authors demonstrate that more formalized processes and increased competition in awards have netted an overall decrease in the cost of these services.

The third paper is “Phasing Risk in Aircraft Development Programs,” by Gregory Brown. It presents a method of modeling and projecting the effectiveness of risk dollars. Given that most program growth occurs in the second half of the planned development schedule, the author recommends allocating risk dollars for new programs in phases that increase later in the program schedule.

This issue’s Current Research Resources in Defense Acquisition focuses on Great Power Competition.

The first featured work in the Defense Acquisition Reading List book review is A History of Government Contracting (2nd ed.) by James F. Nagle, reviewed by John Krieger. The second work is NATO: A Business History by Robert Foxcurran, reviewed by Dr. Paul Spitzer.

Dr. Mary Redshaw has left the Editorial Board. We thank her for her service.

We welcome COL Robert L. Ralston, USA, to the Editorial Board.