Note 14: Segment Financial Data (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2011	Sep. 30, 2010	Sep. 30, 2011	Sep. 30, 2010
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total net sales	$ 14,804,000,000	$ 13,620,000,000	$ 43,224,000,000	$ 39,462,000,000
Operating profit	2,202,000,000	1,928,000,000	6,201,000,000	5,333,000,000
Operating Profit Margin	14.90%	14.20%	14.30%	13.50%
Date Of Announcement Of Changes In Organizational Structure			September 28, 2011
Otis [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total net sales	3,262,000,000	2,908,000,000	9,226,000,000	8,472,000,000
Operating profit	731,000,000	678,000,000	2,104,000,000	1,915,000,000
Operating Profit Margin	22.40%	23.30%	22.80%	22.60%
Carrier [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total net sales	3,175,000,000	2,936,000,000	9,334,000,000	8,496,000,000
Operating profit	422,000,000	380,000,000	1,190,000,000	852,000,000
Operating Profit Margin	13.30%	12.90%	12.70%	10.00%
UTC Fire and Security [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total net sales	1,746,000,000	1,657,000,000	5,120,000,000	4,687,000,000
Operating profit	194,000,000	187,000,000	562,000,000	478,000,000
Operating Profit Margin	11.10%	11.30%	11.00%	10.20%
Pratt and Whitney [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total net sales	3,251,000,000	3,230,000,000	9,798,000,000	9,350,000,000
Operating profit	535,000,000	547,000,000	1,460,000,000	1,505,000,000
Operating Profit Margin	16.50%	16.90%	14.90%	16.10%
Hamilton Sundstrand [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total net sales	1,531,000,000	1,420,000,000	4,503,000,000	4,125,000,000
Operating profit	282,000,000	255,000,000	793,000,000	680,000,000
Operating Profit Margin	18.40%	18.00%	17.60%	16.50%
Sikorsky [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total net sales	1,877,000,000	1,547,000,000	5,245,000,000	4,597,000,000
Operating profit	215,000,000	163,000,000	633,000,000	477,000,000
Operating Profit Margin	11.50%	10.50%	12.10%	10.40%
Total Segments [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total net sales	14,842,000,000	13,698,000,000	43,226,000,000	39,727,000,000
Operating profit	2,379,000,000	2,210,000,000	6,742,000,000	5,907,000,000
Operating Profit Margin	16.00%	16.10%	15.60%	14.90%
Eliminations and other [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total net sales	(38,000,000)	(78,000,000)	(2,000,000)	(265,000,000)
Operating profit	(75,000,000)	(199,000,000)	(246,000,000)	(321,000,000)
General corporate expenses [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total net sales	0	0	0	0
Operating profit	$ (102,000,000)	$ (83,000,000)	$ (295,000,000)	$ (253,000,000)