Quarterly Data (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, shares in Thousands, $ in Millions	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2016	Oct. 01, 2016	Jul. 02, 2016	Apr. 02, 2016	Jan. 02, 2016	Oct. 03, 2015	Jul. 04, 2015	Apr. 04, 2015	Dec. 31, 2016		Jan. 02, 2016		Jan. 03, 2015
Summary of quarterly data
Manufacturing revenues									$ 13,710		$ 13,340		$ 13,775
Finance revenues									78		83		103
Total revenues	$ 3,825	$ 3,251	$ 3,511	$ 3,201	$ 3,923	$ 3,180	$ 3,247	$ 3,073	13,788		13,423		13,878
Special charges	(8)	(115)							(123)				(52)
Income tax benefit (expense)	(79)	192	(82)	(64)	(69)	(76)	(72)	(56)	(33)		(273)		(248)
Income from continuing operations	215	299	178	151	225	176	169	128	843		698		605
Income (loss) from discontinued operations, net of income taxes	(1)	122	(1)	(1)	1		(2)		119	[1]	(1)	[1]	(5)	[1]
Net income	$ 214	$ 421	$ 177	$ 150	$ 226	$ 176	$ 167	$ 128	$ 962		$ 697		$ 600
Basic earnings per share
Continuing operations (in dollars per share)	$ 0.79	$ 1.11	$ 0.66	$ 0.55	$ 0.81	$ 0.64	$ 0.61	$ 0.46	$ 3.11		$ 2.52		$ 2.17
Discontinued operations (in dollars per share)		0.45			0.01		(0.01)		0.44				(0.02)
Basic earnings per share (in dollars per share)	$ 0.79	$ 1.56	$ 0.66	$ 0.55	$ 0.82	$ 0.64	$ 0.60	$ 0.46	$ 3.55		$ 2.52		$ 2.15
Basic average shares outstanding	270,986	270,560	269,888	271,660	274,776	276,334	277,715	277,902	270,774		276,682		279,409
Diluted earnings per share
Continuing operations (in dollars per share)	$ 0.78	$ 1.10	$ 0.66	$ 0.55	$ 0.81	$ 0.63	$ 0.60	$ 0.46	$ 3.09		$ 2.50		$ 2.15
Discontinued operations (in dollars per share)		0.45	(0.01)		0.01				0.44				(0.02)
Diluted earnings per share (in dollars per share)	$ 0.78	$ 1.55	$ 0.65	$ 0.55	$ 0.82	$ 0.63	$ 0.60	$ 0.46	$ 3.53		$ 2.50		$ 2.13
Diluted weighted-average shares outstanding	273,114	272,099	271,316	273,022	276,653	278,039	279,935	280,077	272,365		278,727		281,790
Segment profit margins
Segment profit margin (as a percent)	10.20%	9.50%	9.30%	8.70%	9.60%	9.80%	9.40%	8.40%
Common stock information
Price range: High (in dollars per share)	$ 49.82	$ 41.33	$ 40.61	$ 41.74	$ 43.93	$ 44.98	$ 46.93	$ 45.61
Price range: Low (in dollars per share)	37.19	35.06	34.00	30.69	38.18	32.20	42.97	40.95
Dividends declared per share	$ 0.02	$ 0.02	$ 0.02	$ 0.02	$ 0.02	$ 0.02	$ 0.02	$ 0.02	$ 0.08		$ 0.08		$ 0.08
Internal Revenue Service (IRS) | Approval of 1998 To 2008 tax years final settlement
Summary of quarterly data
Income tax benefit on continuing and discontinued operations		$ 319							$ 319
Internal Revenue Service (IRS) | Approval of 1998 To 2008 tax years final settlement | Continuing Operations
Summary of quarterly data
Income tax benefit on continuing operations		206							206
Internal Revenue Service (IRS) | Approval of 1998 To 2008 tax years final settlement | Discontinued Operations
Summary of quarterly data
Income tax benefit on discontinued operations		113							113
Asset Impairments
Summary of quarterly data
Special charges		(36)							(38)
Severance Costs
Summary of quarterly data
Special charges		(66)							(70)
Manufacturing group
Summary of quarterly data
Income from continuing operations									832		$ 684		$ 590
Income (loss) from discontinued operations, net of income taxes									119		(1)		(5)
Net income									951		683		585
Textron Aviation
Summary of quarterly data
Special charges									(35)
Textron Aviation | Asset Impairments
Summary of quarterly data
Special charges									(1)
Textron Aviation | Severance Costs
Summary of quarterly data
Special charges									(33)
Textron Aviation | Manufacturing group
Summary of quarterly data
Manufacturing revenues	$ 1,436	$ 1,198	$ 1,196	$ 1,091	$ 1,488	$ 1,159	$ 1,124	$ 1,051	4,921		4,822		4,568
Segment profit margins
Segment profit margin (as a percent)	9.40%	8.30%	6.80%	6.70%	9.30%	9.20%	7.80%	6.40%
Bell
Summary of quarterly data
Special charges									(5)
Bell | Asset Impairments
Summary of quarterly data
Special charges									(1)
Bell | Severance Costs
Summary of quarterly data
Special charges									(4)
Bell | Manufacturing group
Summary of quarterly data
Manufacturing revenues	$ 887	$ 734	$ 804	$ 814	$ 1,035	$ 756	$ 850	$ 813	3,239		3,454		4,245
Segment profit margins
Segment profit margin (as a percent)	14.20%	13.20%	10.10%	10.10%	12.00%	13.10%	11.90%	9.30%
Textron Systems
Summary of quarterly data
Special charges									(62)
Textron Systems | Asset Impairments
Summary of quarterly data
Special charges									(34)
Textron Systems | Severance Costs
Summary of quarterly data
Special charges									(15)
Textron Systems | Manufacturing group
Summary of quarterly data
Manufacturing revenues	$ 532	$ 413	$ 487	$ 324	$ 463	$ 420	$ 322	$ 315	1,756		1,520		1,624
Segment profit margins
Segment profit margin (as a percent)	10.00%	10.70%	12.30%	9.00%	8.90%	9.30%	6.50%	8.90%
Industrial
Summary of quarterly data
Special charges									(20)
Industrial | Asset Impairments
Summary of quarterly data
Special charges									(2)
Industrial | Severance Costs
Summary of quarterly data
Special charges									(17)
Industrial | Manufacturing group
Summary of quarterly data
Manufacturing revenues	$ 952	$ 886	$ 1,004	$ 952	$ 917	$ 828	$ 927	$ 872	3,794		3,544		3,338
Segment profit margins
Segment profit margin (as a percent)	7.70%	7.40%	9.90%	9.60%	8.00%	7.40%	9.30%	9.40%
Finance
Summary of quarterly data
Finance revenues	$ 18	$ 20	$ 20	$ 20	$ 20	$ 17	$ 24	$ 22	78		83		103
Segment profit margins
Segment profit margin (as a percent)	22.20%	15.00%	35.00%	25.00%	10.00%	35.30%	41.70%	27.30%
Operating Segment
Summary of quarterly data
Segment Profit	$ 391	$ 310	$ 328	$ 280	$ 378	$ 312	$ 306	$ 259	1,309		1,255		1,214
Operating Segment | Textron Aviation | Manufacturing group
Summary of quarterly data
Segment Profit	135	100	81	73	138	107	88	67	389		400		234
Operating Segment | Bell | Manufacturing group
Summary of quarterly data
Segment Profit	126	97	81	82	124	99	101	76	386		400		529
Operating Segment | Textron Systems | Manufacturing group
Summary of quarterly data
Segment Profit	53	44	60	29	41	39	21	28	186		129		150
Operating Segment | Industrial | Manufacturing group
Summary of quarterly data
Segment Profit	73	66	99	91	73	61	86	82	329		302		280
Operating Segment | Finance
Summary of quarterly data
Segment Profit	4	3	7	5	2	6	10	6	19		24		21
Corporate
Summary of quarterly data
Corporate expenses and other, net	(56)	(53)	(31)	(32)	(52)	(27)	(33)	(42)	(172)		(154)		(161)
Special charges									(1)
Corporate | Severance Costs
Summary of quarterly data
Special charges									(1)
Reconciling Items | Manufacturing group
Summary of quarterly data
Interest expense, net for Manufacturing group	$ (33)	$ (35)	$ (37)	$ (33)	$ (32)	$ (33)	$ (32)	$ (33)	$ (138)		$ (130)		$ (148)

[1] Income from discontinued operations, net of income taxes for the year ended December 31, 2016 primarily includes the settlement of a U.S. federal income tax audit. See Note 13 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information.