Acquisitions and Divestitures - Additional Information (Detail)	0 Months Ended	12 Months Ended				0 Months Ended				12 Months Ended		0 Months Ended	3 Months Ended			12 Months Ended		0 Months Ended
	Jul. 17, 2012 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2013 USD ($)	Dec. 16, 2014 L-3 MSI [Member] EUR (€)	Jul. 26, 2013 6 3/8% Senior Subordinated Notes Due October 15, 2015 [Member] USD ($)	Jul. 26, 2013 6 3/8% Senior Subordinated Notes Due October 15, 2015 [Member]	Jun. 27, 2014 2013 Business Acquisition [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 19, 2013 2013 Business Acquisition [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 2012 Business Acquisitions [Member] USD ($) Business	Dec. 31, 2014 Link U.K. [Member]	Sep. 27, 2013 Link U.K. [Member] Adjustments to Preliminary Valuations Adjustments [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2013 Link U.K. [Member] Adjustments to Preliminary Valuations Adjustments [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 27, 2013 Link U.K. [Member] Adjustments to Preliminary Valuations Adjustments [Member] USD ($)	Mar. 04, 2014 2014 Business Acquisition [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2014 Kollmorgen Electro-Optical [Member]	Dec. 31, 2014 MAVCO, Inc. [Member]	Jan. 21, 2015 Miteq, Inc. [Member] Subsequent Event [Member]	Jan. 21, 2015 Miteq, Inc. [Member] Subsequent Event [Member] USD ($)
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Aggregate purchase price of acquisition									$ 54,000,000	$ 349,000,000					$ 57,000,000				$ 41,000,000
Amount of goodwill recognized		7,501,000,000	7,776,000,000	7,796,000,000				41,000,000		278,000,000				32,000,000	39,000,000
Goodwill deductible for income tax purposes								41,000,000		182,000,000					39,000,000
Number of businesses acquired										3
Acquisition date											Aug. 06, 2012					Feb. 06, 2012	Apr. 13, 2012	Jan. 21, 2015
Other liabilities														17,000,000
Contracts in process														16,000,000
Foreign currency translation adjustments												4,000,000
Net working capital adjustment													6,000,000
Sell of business, base purchase price					285,000,000
Estimated reduction of employee pension-related liabilities					60,000,000
Spin-off date		Jul. 17, 2012
Net cash distribution in connection with spin-off	335,000,000
Redemption of 6 3/8% Senior Subordinated Notes due 2015						250,000,000
Interest rate on Senior Notes							6.375%
Distribution Agreement date		Jul. 16, 2012
Transaction expenses in connection with the spin-off, before income taxes			19,000,000
Transaction expenses in connection with the spin-off, after income taxes			14,000,000
Interest expense for debt			$ 14,000,000