BASIS OF PRESENTATION	6 Months Ended
BASIS OF PRESENTATION	Jun. 30, 2020
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]
BASIS OF PRESENTATION	BASIS OF PRESENTATION Curtiss-Wright Corporation and its subsidiaries (the "Corporation" or the "Company") is a global, diversified manufacturing and service company that designs, manufactures, and overhauls precision components and provides highly engineered products and services to the aerospace, defense, power generation, and general industrial markets. The unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Curtiss-Wright and its majority-owned subsidiaries. All intercompany transactions and accounts have been eliminated. The unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements of the Corporation have been prepared pursuant to the rules and regulations of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Certain information and footnote disclosures normally included in annual financial statements have been condensed or omitted as permitted by such rules and regulations. In the opinion of management, the accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements reflect all adjustments necessary for a fair presentation of these financial statements. Management is required to make estimates and judgments that affect the reported amount of assets, liabilities, revenue, and expenses and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities in the accompanying financial statements. Actual results may differ from these estimates. The most significant of these estimates includes the estimate of costs to complete on contracts using the over-time revenue recognition accounting method, cash flow estimates used for testing the recoverability of assets, pension plan and postretirement obligation assumptions, estimates for inventory obsolescence, fair value estimates around assets and assumed liabilities from acquisitions, estimates for the valuation and useful lives of intangible assets, legal reserves, and the estimate of future environmental costs. Changes in estimates of contract sales, costs, and profits are recognized using the cumulative catch-up method of accounting. This method recognizes in the current period the cumulative effect of the changes on current and prior periods. Accordingly, the effect of the changes on future periods of contract performance is recognized as if the revised estimate had been the original estimate. During the three and six months ended June 30, 2020 and 2019, there were no significant changes in estimated contract costs. The unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included in the Corporation’s 2019 Annual Report on Form 10-K. The results of operations for interim periods are not necessarily indicative of trends or of the operating results for a full year. On January 1, 2020, the Corporation implemented an organizational change to align its reportable segments more closely with its current business structure. This change resulted in the transfer of two business units, one from the Commercial/Industrial segment to the Defense segment and the other from the Defense segment to the Power segment. While this organizational change resulted in the recasting of previously reported amounts across all reportable segments, it did not impact the Corporation’s previously reported consolidated financial statements. Recent accounting pronouncements adopted ASU 2016-13 -Financial Instruments—Credit Losses (Topic 326), Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments. On January 1, 2020, the Company adopted ASU 2016-13 -Financial Instruments—Credit Losses (Topic 326), Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments. This ASU added a current expected credit loss impairment model to U.S. GAAP based on expected losses rather than incurred losses. As the Corporation is not subject to material trade credit risk, the adoption of this standard did not result in any impact to its allowance for doubtful accounts balance as of January 1, 2020. As a result of adoption, the Corporation will utilize current and historical collection data as well as assess current economic conditions in order to determine expected trade credit losses on a prospective basis.