Document and Entity Information - shares	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2019	Apr. 30, 2019
Document And Entity Information [Abstract]
Entity Registrant Name	Curtiss Wright Corporation
Entity Central Index Key	0000026324
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--12-31
Entity Filer Category	Large Accelerated Filer
Document Type	10-Q/A
Document Period End Date	Mar. 31, 2019
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2019
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q1
Amendment Flag	true
Amendment Description	This Amendment No. 1 to the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q/A of Curtiss-Wright Corporation, as originally filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 9, 2019 (the “Original Filing”), is being filed solely to correct an inadvertent overstatement of estimated amortization expense for the five years ending December 31, 2019 through 2023 as disclosed in the Notes to the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements. Specifically, page 13 of the Original Filing included the following sentence: “The estimated amortization expense for the five years ending December 31, 2019 through 2023 is $72.8 million, $71.0 million, $69.1 million, $66.6 million, and $62.9 million, respectively.” The sentence has been amended to state the following: “The estimated amortization expense for the five years ending December 31, 2019 through 2023 is $45.3 million, $43.4 million, $41.5 million, $39.0 million, and $35.3 million, respectively.” Except as described above, no other changes have been made to the Original Filing. This Form 10-Q/A does not reflect any subsequent events that may have occurred since the date of the Original Filing. In accordance with Rule 12b-15 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, we have included new certifications from our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer dated as of the date of this Form 10-Q/A.
Entity common stock shares outstanding (in shares)		42,772,893
Entity Emerging Growth Company	false
Entity Small Business	false
Trading Symbol	CW