Document and Entity Information	9 Months Ended
	Oct. 04, 2015 shares
Document Information [Line Items]
Document Type	10-Q
Amendment Flag	false
Document Period End Date	Oct. 04, 2015
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2015
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q3
Trading Symbol	GD
Entity Registrant Name	GENERAL DYNAMICS CORPORATION
Entity Central Index Key	0000040533
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--12-31
Entity Filer Category	Large Accelerated Filer
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding	316,128,160