INFORMATION ON BUSINESS SEGMENTS - Income Statement Information For Each Segment (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2018	Sep. 24, 2017	Sep. 30, 2018	Sep. 24, 2017
Net sales
Net sales	$ 14,318	$ 12,341	$ 39,351	$ 36,116
Aeronautics
Net sales
Net sales	5,642	4,716	15,361	13,758
MFC
Net sales
Net sales	2,273	1,957	6,035	5,290
RMS
Net sales
Net sales	3,848	3,363	10,637	9,904
Space
Net sales
Net sales	2,555	2,305	7,318	7,164
United States
Net sales
Net sales	10,488	9,026	28,610	26,196
United States | Aeronautics
Net sales
Net sales	3,733	3,127	10,040	9,111
United States | MFC
Net sales
Net sales	1,673	1,446	4,339	3,647
United States | RMS
Net sales
Net sales	2,889	2,515	8,075	7,356
United States | Space
Net sales
Net sales	2,193	1,938	6,156	6,082
Asia Pacific
Net sales
Net sales	1,365	1,140	3,807	3,228
Asia Pacific | Aeronautics
Net sales
Net sales	854	653	2,394	1,878
Asia Pacific | MFC
Net sales
Net sales	126	88	349	294
Asia Pacific | RMS
Net sales
Net sales	377	371	1,002	988
Asia Pacific | Space
Net sales
Net sales	8	28	62	68
Europe
Net sales
Net sales	1,340	1,149	3,778	3,477
Europe | Aeronautics
Net sales
Net sales	691	555	1,877	1,657
Europe | MFC
Net sales
Net sales	112	58	227	215
Europe | RMS
Net sales
Net sales	213	226	592	673
Europe | Space
Net sales
Net sales	324	310	1,082	932
Middle East
Net sales
Net sales	905	827	2,528	2,503
Middle East | Aeronautics
Net sales
Net sales	326	348	903	983
Middle East | MFC
Net sales
Net sales	347	353	1,091	1,105
Middle East | RMS
Net sales
Net sales	202	103	516	339
Middle East | Space
Net sales
Net sales	30	23	18	76
Other
Net sales
Net sales	220	199	628	712
Other | Aeronautics
Net sales
Net sales	38	33	147	129
Other | MFC
Net sales
Net sales	15	12	29	29
Other | RMS
Net sales
Net sales	167	148	452	548
Other | Space
Net sales
Net sales	0	6	0	6
U.S. Government
Net sales
Net sales	10,264	8,833	27,967	25,676
U.S. Government | Aeronautics
Net sales
Net sales	3,700	3,093	9,909	9,009
U.S. Government | MFC
Net sales
Net sales	1,625	1,404	4,215	3,540
U.S. Government | RMS
Net sales
Net sales	2,765	2,417	7,729	7,091
U.S. Government | Space
Net sales
Net sales	2,174	1,919	6,114	6,036
International
Net sales
Net sales	3,830	3,315	10,741	9,920
International | Aeronautics
Net sales
Net sales	1,909	1,589	5,321	4,647
International | MFC
Net sales
Net sales	600	511	1,696	1,643
International | RMS
Net sales
Net sales	959	848	2,562	2,548
International | Space
Net sales
Net sales	362	367	1,162	1,082
U.S. commercial and other
Net sales
Net sales	224	193	643	520
U.S. commercial and other | Aeronautics
Net sales
Net sales	33	34	131	102
U.S. commercial and other | MFC
Net sales
Net sales	48	42	124	107
U.S. commercial and other | RMS
Net sales
Net sales	124	98	346	265
U.S. commercial and other | Space
Net sales
Net sales	19	19	42	46
Fixed-price
Net sales
Net sales	8,943	7,652	24,089	22,053
Fixed-price | Aeronautics
Net sales
Net sales	4,163	3,396	11,284	9,624
Fixed-price | MFC
Net sales
Net sales	1,536	1,321	4,043	3,664
Fixed-price | RMS
Net sales
Net sales	2,710	2,471	7,368	7,199
Fixed-price | Space
Net sales
Net sales	534	464	1,394	1,566
Cost-reimbursable
Net sales
Net sales	5,375	4,689	15,262	14,063
Cost-reimbursable | Aeronautics
Net sales
Net sales	1,479	1,320	4,077	4,134
Cost-reimbursable | MFC
Net sales
Net sales	737	636	1,992	1,626
Cost-reimbursable | RMS
Net sales
Net sales	1,138	892	3,269	2,705
Cost-reimbursable | Space
Net sales
Net sales	2,021	1,841	5,924	5,598
Products
Net sales
Net sales	11,918	10,628	32,830	30,863
Products | Aeronautics
Net sales
Net sales	4,799	4,196	13,080	12,036
Products | MFC
Net sales
Net sales	1,873	1,614	4,935	4,323
Products | RMS
Net sales
Net sales	3,132	2,861	8,753	8,372
Products | Space
Net sales
Net sales	2,114	1,957	6,062	6,132
Services
Net sales
Net sales	2,400	1,713	6,521	5,253
Services | Aeronautics
Net sales
Net sales	843	520	2,281	1,722
Services | MFC
Net sales
Net sales	400	343	1,100	967
Services | RMS
Net sales
Net sales	716	502	1,884	1,532
Services | Space
Net sales
Net sales	$ 441	$ 348	$ 1,256	$ 1,032