Note 15: Segment Financial Data (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2012	Jun. 30, 2011	Jun. 30, 2012	Jun. 30, 2011
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total net sales	$ 13,807,000,000	$ 14,469,000,000	$ 26,223,000,000	$ 27,142,000,000
Operating profit	2,179,000,000	2,150,000,000	3,892,000,000	3,850,000,000
Operating Profit Margin	15.80%	14.90%	14.80%	14.20%
Otis [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total net sales	3,027,000,000	3,192,000,000	5,797,000,000	5,964,000,000
Operating profit	651,000,000	743,000,000	1,217,000,000	1,373,000,000
Operating Profit Margin	21.50%	23.30%	21.00%	23.00%
UTC Climate Controls and Security [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total net sales	4,572,000,000	5,140,000,000	8,684,000,000	9,533,000,000
Operating profit	789,000,000	665,000,000	1,333,000,000	1,136,000,000
Operating Profit Margin	17.30%	12.90%	15.40%	11.90%
Pratt and Whitney [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total net sales	3,447,000,000	3,276,000,000	6,499,000,000	6,149,000,000
Operating profit	427,000,000	424,000,000	816,000,000	852,000,000
Operating Profit Margin	12.40%	12.90%	12.60%	13.90%
Hamilton Sundstrand [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total net sales	1,254,000,000	1,171,000,000	2,490,000,000	2,309,000,000
Operating profit	211,000,000	185,000,000	409,000,000	357,000,000
Operating Profit Margin	16.80%	15.80%	16.40%	15.50%
Sikorsky [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total net sales	1,620,000,000	1,786,000,000	2,966,000,000	3,368,000,000
Operating profit	213,000,000	277,000,000	349,000,000	418,000,000
Operating Profit Margin	13.10%	15.50%	11.80%	12.40%
Total Segments [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total net sales	13,920,000,000	14,565,000,000	26,436,000,000	27,323,000,000
Operating profit	2,291,000,000	2,294,000,000	4,124,000,000	4,136,000,000
Operating Profit Margin	16.50%	15.80%	15.60%	15.10%
Eliminations and other [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total net sales	(113,000,000)	(96,000,000)	(213,000,000)	(181,000,000)
Operating profit	(8,000,000)	(40,000,000)	(32,000,000)	(93,000,000)
General corporate expenses [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total net sales	0	0	0	0
Operating profit	$ (104,000,000)	$ (104,000,000)	$ (200,000,000)	$ (193,000,000)