Aerospace and arms companies, one of the economy's perennial bright spots, continued to lead the United States in the net export of manufactured goods, buoyed by strong civil aircraft sales, the Aerospace Industries Association said in its annual year-end review and forecast. Exports rose 12 percent to an estimated $95.5 billion this year from $85.3 billion last year and are likely to grow during "at least the next several years" based on order backlogs, the AIA said. Order books for civil aircraft makers such as Boeing Co, the world's largest maker of commercial jetliners and military aircraft combined, now contain a six- to seven-year backlog, the report said. U.S. military purchases of hardware may decline slowly or be hit with indiscriminate, sequester-related cuts that could cause major disruptions in the supply chain, especially for smaller manufacturers, the AIA said.