Pay vs Performance [Table Text Block]

Pay Versus Performance

The “Compensation Actually Paid” values shown below do not reflect the compensation actually paid to the CEO or the NEOs. As such, the Compensation Committee did not consider the information provided in the table in structuring or determining compensation for our NEOs. For a complete discussion of the company’s executive compensation program and the Committee’s philosophy and approach, please refer to the CD&A section of this Proxy Statement (beginning on page  45).

The table intends to compare “Pay Versus Performance” and prescribes a method to calculate “Compensation Actually Paid” (CAP). While the table shows SCT compensation and CAP values side by side, they are not comparable.

Together with the salary and annual incentive, the SCT values include the accounting fair value of equity awards granted in the year shown (at the time the grant was made), whereas CAP values include a revaluation of the current grant at year-end, plus the year-over-year change in the fair value of multiple years of historical equity grants. Because CAP includes multiple years of grants, the calculation of CAP each year is heavily impacted by the change in the stock price and therefore, may be higher or lower than the SCT compensation values.

The actual value of an equity award realized by an executive depends on several factors measured over multiple years, including the stock price, the financial performance of the company, the rTSR performance of the company as compared to a peer group, timing of stock option exercises and other factors.

Year	Summary Compensation Table Total for PEO ($)^(a)	Compensation Actually Paid to PEO ($)^(a)(b)(c)	Average Summary Compensation Table Total for Non-PEO NEOs ($)^(a)	Average Compensation Actually Paid to Non-PEO NEOs ($)^(a)(b)(c)	Value of Initial Fixed $100 Investment Based on		Net Earnings ($M)	Annual ROIC^(e)
Year					GD Total Shareholder Return ($)	S&P Total Aerospace & Defense Shareholder Return ($)^(d)	Net Earnings ($M)	Annual ROIC^(e)
2023	22,582,776	31,647,903	7,204,864	9,619,890	163	119	3,315	12.3%
2022	21,478,167	48,651,910	6,221,750	12,842,568	152	112	3,390	12.6%
2021	23,553,861	42,557,364	6,501,277	11,102,219	125	95	3,257	11.9%
2020	19,328,499	9,128,233	5,293,847	2,978,395	87	84	3,167	11.8%

	(a)	For each year represented, Ms. Phebe N. Novakovic was our principal executive officer (PEO), and our non-PEO NEOs were Messrs. Jason W. Aiken, Mark L. Burns, Robert E. Smith and Mark C. Roualet.
	(b)	Amounts shown for CAP are computed in accordance with Item 402(v) of Regulation S-K under the Exchange Act and do not reflect the actual amount of compensation earned by or paid to the NEOs during the applicable year. These amounts reflect total compensation as reported in the SCT with certain adjustments as required by Item 402(v) of Regulation S-K and described in footnote (c) below.
	(c)	CAP reflects the exclusions and inclusions of equity awards for the PEO and the other NEOs as set forth below and calculated in accordance with FASB ASC Topic 718, . The valuation methodologies and assumptions, with certain modifications pursuant to SEC guidance, used to calculate CAP are based on our grant date fair value of these awards as disclosed in the company’s consolidated audited financial statements filed with the SEC on Form 10-K for the years reflected in the table below. The amounts shown for 2022 for the PEOs’ CAP and the non-PEO NEOs’ CAP have been corrected to subtract $25,760 and $17,982, respectively. The amounts shown for 2021 for the PEOs’ CAP and the non-PEO NEOs’ CAP have been corrected to subtract $39,619 and $110,670, respectively. The amounts shown for 2020 for non-PEO NEOs’ CAP have been corrected to add $93,710.

(a)

For each year represented, Ms. Phebe N. Novakovic was our principal executive officer (PEO), and our non-PEO NEOs were Messrs. Jason W. Aiken, Mark L. Burns, Robert E. Smith and Mark C. Roualet.

(b)

Amounts shown for CAP are computed in accordance with Item 402(v) of Regulation S-K under the Exchange Act and do not reflect the actual amount of compensation earned by or paid to the NEOs during the applicable year. These amounts reflect total compensation as reported in the SCT with certain adjustments as required by Item 402(v) of Regulation S-K and described in footnote (c) below.

(c)

CAP reflects the exclusions and inclusions of equity awards for the PEO and the other NEOs as set forth below and calculated in accordance with FASB ASC Topic 718, Compensation — Stock Compensation. The valuation methodologies and assumptions, with certain modifications pursuant to SEC guidance, used to calculate CAP are based on our grant date fair value of these awards as disclosed in the company’s consolidated audited financial statements filed with the SEC on Form 10-K for the years reflected in the table below. The amounts shown for 2022 for the PEOs’ CAP and the non-PEO NEOs’ CAP have been corrected to subtract $25,760 and $17,982, respectively. The amounts shown for 2021 for the PEOs’ CAP and the non-PEO NEOs’ CAP have been corrected to subtract $39,619 and $110,670, respectively. The amounts shown for 2020 for non-PEO NEOs’ CAP have been corrected to add $93,710.

SCT Total to Compensation Actually Paid Reconciliation for the PEO and non-PEOs:

	Calculation for PEO								Calculation for Average of Non-PEOs
Calculation⁽¹⁾ of Compensation Actually Paid	Year 2020 ($)		Year 2021 ($)		Year 2022 ($)		Year 2023 ($)		Year 2020 ($)		Year 2021 ($)		Year 2022 ($)		Year 2023 ($)
Summary Compensation Table Total		19,328,499		23,553,861		21,478,167		22,582,776		5,293,847		6,501,277		6,221,750		7,204,864
Less aggregate change in actuarial present value of pension benefits		(381,567)		—		—		—		(242,276)		—		—		(78,205)
Less grant date fair value of stock and option awards		(14,210,301)		(15,395,836)		(15,091,731)		(15,895,993)		(3,338,770)		(3,795,780)		(3,973,993)		(4,666,270)
Add year-end fair value of awards granted during the fiscal year that are outstanding and unvested as of the end of the fiscal year		10,733,219		20,972,489		19,885,285		20,091,360		2,521,801		5,170,727		5,236,173		5,897,817
Add change in fair value (whether positive or negative) as of vesting date of awards granted in prior fiscal years for which all applicable vesting conditions were satisfied at fiscal year-end or during the fiscal year		(1,703,747)		1,725,480		4,975,264		(2,942,513)		(289,494)		371,980		1,146,440		(703,510)
Add change in fair value (whether positive or negative) as of fiscal year-end for unvested and outstanding awards granted in prior fiscal years		(4,843,424)		11,475,277		17,170,099		7,580,277		(1,008,977)		2,802,051		4,154,201		1,904,573
Add dividends paid on unvested equity awards during the fiscal year		205,554		226,093		234,826		231,996		42,264		51,964		57,997		60,621
Compensation Actually Paid		9,128,233		42,557,364		48,651,910		31,647,903		2,978,395		11,102,219		12,842,568		9,619,890

(1)

For the PEO and other NEOs, for each covered year, service cost and prior service cost of pension benefits equals $0, fair value of awards that are granted and vest in the same covered fiscal year equals $0, and fair value of awards granted in prior years that are determined to fail to meet the applicable vesting conditions during the covered fiscal year equals $0.

(d)

TSR shown in this table utilizes the S&P 500 Aerospace & Defense (A&D) Index, which we use in our stock performance graph required by Item 201(e) of Regulation S-K included in the company’s consolidated audited financial statements filed with the SEC on Form 10-K for the years reflected in the table above. The comparison assumes $100 was invested for the period starting December 31, 2019, through December 31 of the applicable fiscal year in each of the company’s Common Stock and the S&P A&D Index. All dollar values assume reinvestment of the pre-tax value of dividends paid by companies included in the S&P A&D Index. The historical stock price performance of our Common Stock shown is not necessarily indicative of future stock price performance.

In our 2022 Pay Versus Performance disclosure, we referenced the S&P 500 Index (rather than the S&P A&D Index) but have changed that for the table above because of subsequently issued clarifying SEC guidance. For comparison purposes, the table below provides TSR for the company’s Common Stock, the S&P A&D Index currently presented, and the S&P 500 Index previously presented.

		Value of Initial Fixed $100 Investment Based on
Year		GD Total Shareholder Return ($)	S&P Total Aerospace & Defense Shareholder Return ($)	S&P 500 Total Shareholder Return ($)
2023	163		119	158
2022	152		112	125
2021	125		95	152
2020	87		84	118

(e)

Pursuant to Item 402(v) of Regulation S-K, we determined annual ROIC to be the most important financial performance measure used to link company performance to CAP to our PEO and other NEOs in 2023. This performance measure may not have been the most important financial performance measure for years 2022, 2021, and 2020 ,and we may determine a different financial performance measure to be the most important such measure in future years. See Appendix A for a discussion of this non-GAAP measure.+

Company Selected Measure Name

annual ROIC

Named Executive Officers, Footnote [Text Block]

(a)

For each year represented, Ms. Phebe N. Novakovic was our principal executive officer (PEO), and our non-PEO NEOs were Messrs. Jason W. Aiken, Mark L. Burns, Robert E. Smith and Mark C. Roualet.

Peer Group Issuers, Footnote [Text Block]

(d)

PEO Total Compensation Amount

^[1],[2]

$ 22,582,776

$ 21,478,167

$ 23,553,861

$ 19,328,499

PEO Actually Paid Compensation Amount

^{[1],[2],[3],[4]}

$ 31,647,903

48,651,910

42,557,364

9,128,233

Adjustment To PEO Compensation, Footnote [Text Block]

SCT Total to Compensation Actually Paid Reconciliation for the PEO and non-PEOs:

	Calculation for PEO								Calculation for Average of Non-PEOs
Calculation⁽¹⁾ of Compensation Actually Paid	Year 2020 ($)		Year 2021 ($)		Year 2022 ($)		Year 2023 ($)		Year 2020 ($)		Year 2021 ($)		Year 2022 ($)		Year 2023 ($)
Summary Compensation Table Total		19,328,499		23,553,861		21,478,167		22,582,776		5,293,847		6,501,277		6,221,750		7,204,864
Less aggregate change in actuarial present value of pension benefits		(381,567)		—		—		—		(242,276)		—		—		(78,205)
Less grant date fair value of stock and option awards		(14,210,301)		(15,395,836)		(15,091,731)		(15,895,993)		(3,338,770)		(3,795,780)		(3,973,993)		(4,666,270)
Add year-end fair value of awards granted during the fiscal year that are outstanding and unvested as of the end of the fiscal year		10,733,219		20,972,489		19,885,285		20,091,360		2,521,801		5,170,727		5,236,173		5,897,817
Add change in fair value (whether positive or negative) as of vesting date of awards granted in prior fiscal years for which all applicable vesting conditions were satisfied at fiscal year-end or during the fiscal year		(1,703,747)		1,725,480		4,975,264		(2,942,513)		(289,494)		371,980		1,146,440		(703,510)
Add change in fair value (whether positive or negative) as of fiscal year-end for unvested and outstanding awards granted in prior fiscal years		(4,843,424)		11,475,277		17,170,099		7,580,277		(1,008,977)		2,802,051		4,154,201		1,904,573
Add dividends paid on unvested equity awards during the fiscal year		205,554		226,093		234,826		231,996		42,264		51,964		57,997		60,621
Compensation Actually Paid		9,128,233		42,557,364		48,651,910		31,647,903		2,978,395		11,102,219		12,842,568		9,619,890

(1)

Non-PEO NEO Average Total Compensation Amount

^[1],[2]

$ 7,204,864

6,221,750

6,501,277

5,293,847

Non-PEO NEO Average Compensation Actually Paid Amount

^{[1],[2],[3],[4]}

$ 9,619,890

12,842,568

11,102,219

2,978,395

Adjustment to Non-PEO NEO Compensation Footnote [Text Block]

SCT Total to Compensation Actually Paid Reconciliation for the PEO and non-PEOs:

	Calculation for PEO								Calculation for Average of Non-PEOs
Calculation⁽¹⁾ of Compensation Actually Paid	Year 2020 ($)		Year 2021 ($)		Year 2022 ($)		Year 2023 ($)		Year 2020 ($)		Year 2021 ($)		Year 2022 ($)		Year 2023 ($)
Summary Compensation Table Total		19,328,499		23,553,861		21,478,167		22,582,776		5,293,847		6,501,277		6,221,750		7,204,864
Less aggregate change in actuarial present value of pension benefits		(381,567)		—		—		—		(242,276)		—		—		(78,205)
Less grant date fair value of stock and option awards		(14,210,301)		(15,395,836)		(15,091,731)		(15,895,993)		(3,338,770)		(3,795,780)		(3,973,993)		(4,666,270)
Add year-end fair value of awards granted during the fiscal year that are outstanding and unvested as of the end of the fiscal year		10,733,219		20,972,489		19,885,285		20,091,360		2,521,801		5,170,727		5,236,173		5,897,817
Add change in fair value (whether positive or negative) as of vesting date of awards granted in prior fiscal years for which all applicable vesting conditions were satisfied at fiscal year-end or during the fiscal year		(1,703,747)		1,725,480		4,975,264		(2,942,513)		(289,494)		371,980		1,146,440		(703,510)
Add change in fair value (whether positive or negative) as of fiscal year-end for unvested and outstanding awards granted in prior fiscal years		(4,843,424)		11,475,277		17,170,099		7,580,277		(1,008,977)		2,802,051		4,154,201		1,904,573
Add dividends paid on unvested equity awards during the fiscal year		205,554		226,093		234,826		231,996		42,264		51,964		57,997		60,621
Compensation Actually Paid		9,128,233		42,557,364		48,651,910		31,647,903		2,978,395		11,102,219		12,842,568		9,619,890

(1)

Compensation Actually Paid vs. Total Shareholder Return [Text Block]

The following charts set forth the relationship between CAP to our PEO, the average of CAP to our other NEOs, and the company’s cumulative TSR, S&P A&D Index TSR, net earnings, and ROIC over the four-year period from 2020 through 2023, each as set forth in the table above.

Compensation Actually Paid vs. Net Income [Text Block]

Compensation Actually Paid vs. Company Selected Measure [Text Block]

Total Shareholder Return Vs Peer Group [Text Block]

Tabular List [Table Text Block]

2023 Tabular List of Most Important Financial and Non-Financial Performance Measures

The following table presents the financial and non-financial performance measures that the company considers to have been the most important in linking CAP to our PEO and other NEOs in 2023 as set forth in the table above to company performance. The measures in this table are not ranked.

Most Important Performance Measures

Diluted EPS

Free Cash Flow

Operating Margin

Return on Invested Capital

Total Shareholder Return

Total Shareholder Return Amount

$ 163

152

125

Peer Group Total Shareholder Return Amount

^[5]

119

112

Net Income (Loss) Attributable to Parent

$ 3,315,000,000

$ 3,390,000,000

$ 3,257,000,000

$ 3,167,000,000

Company Selected Measure Amount

^[6]

0.123

0.126

0.119

0.118

PEO Name

Ms. Phebe N. Novakovic

Measure [Axis]: 1

Diluted EPS

Measure [Axis]: 2

Free Cash Flow

Measure [Axis]: 3

Operating Margin

Measure [Axis]: 4

Return on Invested Capital

Measure [Axis]: 5

PEO [Member] | Less aggregate change in actuarial present value of pension benefits

Total Shareholder Return

PEO [Member] | Less grant date fair value of stock and option awards

^[2]

$ (381,567)

PEO [Member] | Add year-end fair value of awards granted during the fiscal year that are outstanding and unvested as of the end of the fiscal year

^[2]

(15,895,993)

(15,091,731)

(15,395,836)

(14,210,301)

PEO [Member] | Add change in fair value (whether positive or negative) as of vesting date of awards granted in prior fiscal years for which all applicable vesting conditions were satisfied at fiscal year-end or during the fiscal year

^[2]

20,091,360

19,885,285

20,972,489

10,733,219

PEO [Member] | Add change in fair value (whether positive or negative) as of fiscal year-end for unvested and outstanding awards granted in prior fiscal years

^[2]

(2,942,513)

4,975,264

1,725,480

(1,703,747)

PEO [Member] | Add dividends paid on unvested equity awards during the fiscal year

^[2]

7,580,277

17,170,099

11,475,277

(4,843,424)

Non-PEO NEO [Member] | Less aggregate change in actuarial present value of pension benefits

^[2]

231,996

234,826

226,093

205,554

Non-PEO NEO [Member] | Less grant date fair value of stock and option awards

^[2]

(78,205)

(242,276)

Non-PEO NEO [Member] | Add year-end fair value of awards granted during the fiscal year that are outstanding and unvested as of the end of the fiscal year

^[2]

(4,666,270)

(3,973,993)

(3,795,780)

(3,338,770)

Non-PEO NEO [Member] | Add change in fair value (whether positive or negative) as of vesting date of awards granted in prior fiscal years for which all applicable vesting conditions were satisfied at fiscal year-end or during the fiscal year

^[2]

5,897,817

5,236,173

5,170,727

2,521,801

Non-PEO NEO [Member] | Add change in fair value (whether positive or negative) as of fiscal year-end for unvested and outstanding awards granted in prior fiscal years

^[2]

(703,510)

1,146,440

371,980

(289,494)

Non-PEO NEO [Member] | Add dividends paid on unvested equity awards during the fiscal year

^[2]

1,904,573

4,154,201

2,802,051

(1,008,977)