Business Acquisitions, Goodwill and Intangible Assets - Goodwill (Details) - Manufacturing group - USD ($) $ in Millions	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2016	Jan. 02, 2016
Changes in the carrying amount of goodwill
Beginning Balance	$ 2,023	$ 2,027
Acquisitions	97	16
Foreign currency translation	(7)	(20)
Ending Balance	2,113	2,023
Textron Aviation
Changes in the carrying amount of goodwill
Beginning Balance	560	554
Acquisitions	54	6
Foreign currency translation	(1)
Ending Balance	613	560
Bell
Changes in the carrying amount of goodwill
Beginning Balance	31	31
Ending Balance	31	31
Textron Systems
Changes in the carrying amount of goodwill
Beginning Balance	1,051	1,057
Acquisitions	36
Foreign currency translation		(6)
Ending Balance	1,087	1,051
Industrial
Changes in the carrying amount of goodwill
Beginning Balance	381	385
Acquisitions	7	10
Foreign currency translation	(6)	(14)
Ending Balance	$ 382	$ 381

Amount after accumulated impairment loss of an asset representing future economic benefits arising from other assets acquired in a business combination that are not individually identified and separately recognized.

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 350
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=35741047&loc=d3e13816-109267

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 350
-SubTopic 20
-Section 45
-Paragraph 1
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6388280&loc=d3e13770-109266

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 350
-SubTopic 20
-Section 45
-Paragraph 5
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=64834752&loc=SL49117168-202975

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- Definition

Amount of increase in asset representing future economic benefits arising from other assets acquired in a business combination that are not individually identified and separately recognized resulting from a business combination.

+ References

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- Definition

Amount of foreign currency translation gain (loss) which increases (decreases) an asset representing future economic benefits from other assets acquired in a business combination that are not individually identified and separately recognized.

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- Definition

A roll forward is a reconciliation of a concept from the beginning of a period to the end of a period.

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No definition available.

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