Summary of Significant Accounting Policies	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2019
Accounting Policies [Abstract]
Summary of Significant Accounting Policies	SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES Basis of Consolidation and Classification. The unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements include the accounts of General Dynamics Corporation and our wholly owned and majority-owned subsidiaries. We eliminate all inter-company balances and transactions in the unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements. Some prior-year amounts have been reclassified among financial statement accounts or disclosures to conform to the current-year presentation. Consistent with industry practice, we classify assets and liabilities related to long-term contracts as current, even though some of these amounts may not be realized within one year. Further discussion of our significant accounting policies is contained in the other notes to these financial statements. Interim Financial Statements. The unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements have been prepared pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission. These rules and regulations permit some of the information and footnote disclosures included in financial statements prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) to be condensed or omitted. Our fiscal quarters are 13 weeks in length. Because our fiscal year ends on December 31, the number of days in our first and fourth quarters varies slightly from year to year. Operating results for the three-month period ended March 31, 2019, are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the year ending December 31, 2019. The unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements contain all adjustments that are of a normal recurring nature necessary for a fair presentation of our results of operations and financial condition for the three-month periods ended March 31, 2019, and April 1, 2018. These unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements should be read in conjunction with the Consolidated Financial Statements and notes thereto included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018. Accounting Standards Updates. Effective January 1, 2019, we adopted Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) Topic 842, Leases. ASC Topic 842 requires the recognition of lease rights and obligations as assets and liabilities on the balance sheet. Previously, lessees were not required to recognize on the balance sheet assets and liabilities arising from operating leases. As we elected the cumulative-effect adoption method, prior-period information has not been restated. The standard provided several optional practical expedients for use in transition. We elected to use what the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) has deemed the “package of practical expedients,” which allowed us not to reassess our previous conclusions about lease identification, lease classification and the accounting treatment for initial direct costs. We did not elect the practical expedient pertaining to the use of hindsight. The most significant effects of the standard on our Consolidated Financial Statements are (1) the recognition of new right-of-use assets and lease liabilities on our Consolidated Balance Sheet for our operating leases, and (2) significant new disclosures about our leasing activities (see Note N). On January 1, 2019, we recognized operating lease liabilities and right-of-use assets of $1.4 billion based on the present value of the remaining lease payments over the lease term. The adoption did not result in a cumulative-effect adjustment to retained earnings. The new standard did not have a material impact on our results of operations or cash flows. For a discussion of other accounting standards that have been issued by the FASB but are not yet effective, refer to the Accounting Standards Updates section in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018. These standards are not expected to have a material impact on our results of operations or cash flows.

SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Basis of Consolidation and Classification. The unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements include the accounts of General Dynamics Corporation and our wholly owned and majority-owned subsidiaries. We eliminate all inter-company balances and transactions in the unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements. Some prior-year amounts have been reclassified among financial statement accounts or disclosures to conform to the current-year presentation.

Consistent with industry practice, we classify assets and liabilities related to long-term contracts as current, even though some of these amounts may not be realized within one year.

Further discussion of our significant accounting policies is contained in the other notes to these financial statements.

Interim Financial Statements. The unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements have been prepared pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission. These rules and regulations permit some of the information and footnote disclosures included in financial statements prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) to be condensed or omitted.

Our fiscal quarters are 13 weeks in length. Because our fiscal year ends on December 31, the number of days in our first and fourth quarters varies slightly from year to year. Operating results for the three-month period ended March 31, 2019, are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the year ending December 31, 2019.

The unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements contain all adjustments that are of a normal recurring nature necessary for a fair presentation of our results of operations and financial condition for the three-month periods ended March 31, 2019, and April 1, 2018.

These unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements should be read in conjunction with the Consolidated Financial Statements and notes thereto included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018.

Accounting Standards Updates. Effective January 1, 2019, we adopted Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) Topic 842, Leases. ASC Topic 842 requires the recognition of lease rights and obligations as assets and liabilities on the balance sheet. Previously, lessees were not required to recognize on the balance sheet assets and liabilities arising from operating leases. As we elected the cumulative-effect adoption method, prior-period information has not been restated.

The standard provided several optional practical expedients for use in transition. We elected to use what the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) has deemed the “package of practical expedients,” which allowed us not to reassess our previous conclusions about lease identification, lease classification and the accounting treatment for initial direct costs. We did not elect the practical expedient pertaining to the use of hindsight.

The most significant effects of the standard on our Consolidated Financial Statements are (1) the recognition of new right-of-use assets and lease liabilities on our Consolidated Balance Sheet for our operating leases, and (2) significant new disclosures about our leasing activities (see Note N). On January 1, 2019, we recognized operating lease liabilities and right-of-use assets of $1.4 billion based on the present value of the remaining lease payments over the lease term. The adoption did not result in a cumulative-effect adjustment to retained earnings. The new standard did not have a material impact on our results of operations or cash flows.

For a discussion of other accounting standards that have been issued by the FASB but are not yet effective, refer to the Accounting Standards Updates section in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018. These standards are not expected to have a material impact on our results of operations or cash flows.