Acquisitions and Divestitures, Goodwill and Intangible Assets - Pro Forma Information (Details) - CSRA - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Millions	3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2018	Sep. 30, 2018
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Revenue	$ 9,094	$ 27,156
Earnings from continuing operations	$ 872	$ 2,470
Diluted earnings per share from continuing operations (in dollars per share)	$ 2.92	$ 8.23

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Per diluted share amount of pro forma income from continuing operations, after tax, as if the business combination had been completed at the beginning of a period.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2009/role/commonPracticeRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 805
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (h)(3)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=79982066&loc=d3e1392-128463

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2009/role/commonPracticeRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 805
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (h)(2)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=79982066&loc=d3e1392-128463

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionProFormaIncomeLossFromContinuingOperationsBeforeChangesInAccountingAndExtraordinaryItemsNetOfTaxPerShareDiluted
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	num:perShareItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount after tax of pro forma income from continuing operations as if the business combination had been completed at the beginning of a period.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 805
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (h)(2)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=79982066&loc=d3e1392-128463

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 805
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (h)(3)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=79982066&loc=d3e1392-128463

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionsProFormaIncomeLossFromContinuingOperationsBeforeChangesInAccountingAndExtraordinaryItemsNetOfTax
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The pro forma revenue for a period as if the business combination or combinations had been completed at the beginning of the period.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionsProFormaRevenue
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionAxis=gd_CSRAInc.Member
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: