Retirement Benefits (Narrative) (Details) shares in Thousands, $ in Thousands	12 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2024 USD ($) yr shares	Sep. 30, 2023 USD ($) shares	Sep. 30, 2022 USD ($) shares
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Percentage of annual contribution equal to eligible prior year wages	5.00%
Common shares issued from treasury to settle benefit obligations	$ 21,889	$ 19,466	$ 17,132
Shares of woodward stock held in woodward retirement savings plan | shares	2,222	2,441
Accrued liabilities	$ 19,532	$ 16,634
Treasury Stock [Member]
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Common shares issued from treasury to settle benefit obligations	$ 7,922	$ 8,523	$ 6,567
Common shares issued from treasury stock for benefit plans, shares | shares	159	188	150
Defined Benefit Pension Plan [Member]
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Current portion of pension obligation	$ 1,166	$ 1,084
Projected benefit obligation	218,302	194,485	$ 197,921
Fair value of plan assets	237,393	206,145	202,060
Defined Benefit Pension Plan [Member] | Cash and Cash Equivalents
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Fair value of plan assets	5,500	2,534
Defined Benefit Pension Plan [Member] | Pooled funds: Index linked U.K. government securities fund [Member]
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Fair value of plan assets	12,049	14,601
Defined Benefit Pension Plan [Member] | Pooled funds: Index linked U.K. long-term government securities fund [Member]
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Fair value of plan assets	$ 14,924	4,485
Defined Benefit Pension Plan [Member] | United States [Member]
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Discount rate support/source data	In the United States, Woodward uses a bond portfolio matching analysis based on recently traded, non-callable bonds rated AA or better that have at least $50 million outstanding to determine the benefit obligations at year end
Convergence period	5 years
Long term rate	0.75
Projected benefit obligation	$ 140,955	127,222	132,444
Fair value of plan assets	179,917	155,370	154,481
Accumulated benefit obligation	140,955
Estimated future employer contributions in the next fiscal year	0
Defined Benefit Pension Plan [Member] | Foreign Plan
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Current portion of pension obligation	$ 1,166	1,084
Discount rate support/source data	In the United Kingdom, Germany, and Japan, Woodward uses a high-quality corporate bond yield curve matched with separate cash flows to develop a single rate to determine the single rate equivalent to settle the entire benefit obligations in each jurisdiction. For the fiscal years ended September 30, 2024 and 2023, the discount rate used to determine periodic service cost and interest cost components of the overall benefit costs was based on spot rates derived from the same high-quality corporate bond yield curve used to determine the September 30, 2023 and 2022 benefit obligation, respectively, matched with separate cash flows for each future year
Projected benefit obligation	$ 77,347	67,263	65,477
Fair value of plan assets	57,476	50,775	47,579
Defined Benefit Pension Plan [Member] | United Kingdom
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Projected benefit obligation	34,220
Fair value of plan assets	48,098
Accumulated benefit obligation	33,766
Estimated future employer contributions in the next fiscal year	277
Defined Benefit Pension Plan [Member] | Japan
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Projected benefit obligation	6,747
Fair value of plan assets	9,378
Accumulated benefit obligation	5,958
Estimated future employer contributions in the next fiscal year	147
Defined Benefit Pension Plan [Member] | Germany [Member]
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Projected benefit obligation	36,380
Fair value of plan assets	0
Accumulated benefit obligation	36,380
Estimated future employer contributions in the next fiscal year	$ 1,185
Defined Benefit Pension Plan [Member] | Japan And United Kingdom [Member]
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Annual improvement rate	1.5
Other Postretirement Benefit Plans [Member]
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Current portion of pension obligation	$ 1,668	1,739
Net periodic retirement (benefit) cost	347	410	484
Projected benefit obligation	15,203	15,336	$ 16,797
Accumulated benefit obligation	$ 15,203	15,336
Option to elect company provided medical insurance coverage up to this age and a Medicare supplemental plan after this age | yr	65
Age employees were eligible to participate in plan | yr	55
Defined benefit plan, minimum years of service required for employees to be eligible for benefits			10 years
Approximate number of retired employees and their covered dependents and beneficiaries currently providing postretirement benefits	3
Approximate number of active employees and their covered dependants and beneficiaries who may receive postretirement benefits in the future	347
As a result of a plan amendment, all postretirement medical benefits are fully insured for retirees who have attained this age	65
Other Postretirement Benefit Plans [Member] | United States [Member]
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Discount rate support/source data	Woodward used a bond portfolio matching analysis based on recently traded, non-callable bonds rated AA or better that have at least $50 million outstanding to determine the benefit obligations at year end
Convergence period	5 years
Long term rate	0.75
Woodward Retirement Savings Plan [Member] | United States [Member]
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Accumulated benefit obligation		127,222
Woodward Retirement Savings Plan [Member] | United Kingdom
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Accumulated benefit obligation		30,067
Woodward Retirement Savings Plan [Member] | Japan
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Accumulated benefit obligation		5,790
Woodward Retirement Savings Plan [Member] | Germany [Member]
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Accumulated benefit obligation		$ 30,547