Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income (USD $) In Millions, except Per Share data, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2013	Apr. 01, 2012
Income Statement [Abstract]
Net Sales	$ 569.4	$ 494.0
Costs and expenses
Cost of sales	365.4	328.1
Selling, general and administrative expenses	145.1	110.4
Total costs and expenses	510.5	438.5
Income before other expense and income taxes	58.9	55.5
Other expense, net	(0.5)	(0.4)
Interest and debt expense, net	(5.4)	(4.0)
Income before income taxes	53.0	51.1
Provision for income taxes	13.2	15.5
Net income	39.8	35.6
Noncontrolling interest	0.6	0.1
Net income attributable to Teledyne	$ 40.4	$ 35.7
Basic earnings per common share (in USD per share)	$ 1.09	$ 0.98
Weighted average common shares outstanding (in shares)	37.2	36.5
Diluted earnings per common share (in USD per share)	$ 1.07	$ 0.96
Weighted average diluted common shares outstanding (in shares)	37.8	37.2