Commitments And Contingencies (Narrative) (Details) (USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2011	Mar. 31, 2011	Sep. 30, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010
Financing commitments	$ 15,624		$ 15,624	$ 9,865
Contingent liabilities on outstanding letters of credit agreements and surety bonds	7,250		7,250	7,599
Total contractual trade-in value			287	295
Fair value of trade-in aircraft	27		27	30
Agreement to extend a line of credit to ULA	200		200
Commitment to provide ULA with additional capital contributions	327		327
Inventory expenditures and potential termination liabilities to suppliers	735		735
Pension curtailment charges		34
Number of additional orders which are probable			18
Number of orders in backlog			7
Number of international orders			13
Planned production rate, per year	10			15
U.S. Air Force [Member]
Number of additional orders which are probable			5
Number of orders in backlog			5
International [Member]
Number of orders in backlog			2
Maximum [Member]
Expiration Date Of Trade-In Commitment Agreements			2023
Minimum [Member]
Expiration Date Of Trade-In Commitment Agreements			2012
Environmental Remediation Expense [Member]
Maximum number of years environmental remediation liabilities are recorded			30
Reasonably possible highest cost estimate for all remediation sites exceeded our recorded liabilities	1,045		1,045	957
F15 Program [Member]
Inventory expenditures and potential termination liabilities to suppliers	$ 1,735		$ 1,735