Note 14: Segment Financial Data (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2011	Jun. 30, 2010	Jun. 30, 2011	Jun. 30, 2010
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total net sales	$ 15,076,000,000	$ 13,802,000,000	$ 28,420,000,000	$ 25,842,000,000
Operating profit	2,220,000,000	1,882,000,000	3,999,000,000	3,405,000,000
Operating Profit Margin	14.70%	13.60%	14.10%	13.20%
Otis [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total net sales	3,192,000,000	2,838,000,000	5,964,000,000	5,564,000,000
Operating profit	743,000,000	641,000,000	1,373,000,000	1,237,000,000
Operating Profit Margin	23.30%	22.60%	23.00%	22.20%
Carrier [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total net sales	3,393,000,000	3,093,000,000	6,159,000,000	5,560,000,000
Operating profit	458,000,000	333,000,000	768,000,000	472,000,000
Operating Profit Margin	13.50%	10.80%	12.50%	8.50%
UTC Fire and Security [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total net sales	1,746,000,000	1,615,000,000	3,374,000,000	3,030,000,000
Operating profit	206,000,000	168,000,000	368,000,000	291,000,000
Operating Profit Margin	11.80%	10.40%	10.90%	9.60%
Pratt and Whitney [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total net sales	3,452,000,000	3,279,000,000	6,547,000,000	6,120,000,000
Operating profit	454,000,000	522,000,000	925,000,000	958,000,000
Operating Profit Margin	13.20%	15.90%	14.10%	15.70%
Hamilton Sundstrand [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total net sales	1,524,000,000	1,379,000,000	2,972,000,000	2,705,000,000
Operating profit	267,000,000	204,000,000	511,000,000	425,000,000
Operating Profit Margin	17.50%	14.80%	17.20%	15.70%
Sikorsky [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total net sales	1,786,000,000	1,692,000,000	3,368,000,000	3,050,000,000
Operating profit	277,000,000	169,000,000	418,000,000	314,000,000
Operating Profit Margin	15.50%	10.00%	12.40%	10.30%
Total Segments [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total net sales	15,093,000,000	13,896,000,000	28,384,000,000	26,029,000,000
Operating profit	2,405,000,000	2,037,000,000	4,363,000,000	3,697,000,000
Operating Profit Margin	15.90%	14.70%	15.40%	14.20%
Eliminations and other [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total net sales	(17,000,000)	(94,000,000)	36,000,000	(187,000,000)
Operating profit	(81,000,000)	(62,000,000)	(171,000,000)	(122,000,000)
General corporate expenses [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total net sales	0	0	0	0
Operating profit	$ (104,000,000)	$ (93,000,000)	$ (193,000,000)	$ (170,000,000)