Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income (Unaudited) (USD $) In Millions, except Per Share data, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended
	Apr. 01, 2012	Apr. 03, 2011
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income [Abstract]
Net Sales	$ 494.0	$ 468.1
Costs and expenses
Cost of sales	328.1	313.1
Selling, general and administrative expenses	110.4	100.3
Total costs and expenses	438.5	413.4
Income before other income and expense and income taxes	55.5	54.7
Other expense, net	(0.4)	(0.3)
Interest and debt expense, net	(4.0)	(4.4)
Income from continuing operations before income taxes	51.1	50.0
Provision for income taxes	15.5	17.5
Net income from continuing operations including noncontrolling interest	35.6	32.5
Loss from discontinued operations, net of income taxes		(0.5)
Net income	35.6	32.0
Less: Net income attributable to noncontrolling interest	0.1
Net income attributable to Teledyne	35.7	32.0
Net income from continuing operations	$ 35.7	$ 32.5
Basic earnings per common share:
Continuing operations	$ 0.98	$ 0.89
Discontinued operations		$ (0.01)
Basic earnings per common share	$ 0.98	$ 0.88
Weighted average common shares outstanding	36.5	36.5
Diluted earnings per common share:
Continuing operations	$ 0.96	$ 0.87
Discontinued operations		$ (0.01)
Diluted earnings per common share	$ 0.96	$ 0.86
Weighted average diluted common shares outstanding	37.2	37.2