XML 20 R7.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT
v3.10.0.1

Summary of Significant Accounting Policies | 6 Months Ended
--- | ---
Jul. 01, 2018
Accounting Policies [Abstract] |
Summary of Significant Accounting Policies | SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES Organization. General Dynamics is a global aerospace and defense company that offers a broad portfolio of products and services in business aviation; combat vehicles, weapons systems and munitions; information technology (IT) services; C4ISR (command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) solutions; and shipbuilding and ship repair. On April 3, 2018, we completed our acquisition of CSRA Inc. (CSRA). See Note B for further discussion of the acquisition. For segment reporting purposes, concurrent with the acquisition, our Information Systems and Technology operating segment was reorganized into the Information Technology and Mission Systems segments. Our company now has five operating segments: Aerospace, Combat Systems, Information Technology, Mission Systems and Marine Systems. We collectively refer to Combat Systems, Information Technology, Mission Systems and Marine Systems as our defense segments. Prior-period segment information has been restated for this change. 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- and six-month periods ended July 1, 2018, are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the year ending December 31, 2018. 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- and six-month periods ended July 1, 2018, and July 2, 2017. 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, 2017. Accounting Standards Updates. On January 1, 2018, we adopted the following accounting standards issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB):
• | ASU 2016-01, Financial Instruments - Overall (Subtopic 825-10): Recognition and Measurement of Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities. ASU 2016-01 addresses certain aspects of recognition, measurement, presentation and disclosure of financial instruments. Specific to our business, ASU 2016-01 requires equity investments to be measured at fair value with changes in fair value recognized in net income. The ASU eliminates the available-for-sale classification for equity investments that recognized changes in fair value as a component of other comprehensive income. We adopted the standard on a modified retrospective basis on January 1, 2018, and recognized the cumulative effect as a $24 increase to retained earnings on the date of adoption.
• | ASU 2016-15, Statement of Cash Flows (Topic 230): Classification of Certain Cash Receipts and Cash Payments. ASU 2016-15 is intended to reduce diversity in practice in how certain cash receipts and cash payments are presented and classified in the Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows by providing guidance on eight specific cash flow issues. We adopted the standard retrospectively on January 1, 2018. The adoption of the ASU did not have an effect on our cash flows for the six-month period ended July 2, 2017.
• | ASU 2017-07, Compensation - Retirement Benefits (Topic 715): Improving the Presentation of Net Periodic Pension Cost and Net Periodic Postretirement Benefit Cost. ASU 2017-07 requires the service cost component of net benefit cost to be reported separately from the other components of net benefit cost in the Consolidated Statement of Earnings. We adopted the standard retrospectively on January 1, 2018. Our restated operating earnings increased $11 and $22 for the three- and six-month periods ended July 2, 2017, respectively, due to the reclassification of the non-service cost components of net benefit cost, and other income decreased by the same amount, with no impact to net earnings.
• | ASU 2018-02, Income Statement - Reporting Comprehensive Income (Topic 220): Reclassification of Certain Tax Effects from Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income. ASU 2018-02 allows the reclassification from accumulated other comprehensive income to retained earnings of stranded tax effects resulting from the implementation of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (tax reform) enacted on December 22, 2017. We adopted the standard on January 1, 2018, and recognized a $614 increase to retained earnings on the date of adoption.
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, 2017.

X
- References No definition available. + Details
Name: | us-gaap_AccountingPoliciesAbstract
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition The entire disclosure for all significant accounting policies of the reporting entity. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 235 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/topic&trid=2122369 + Details
Name: | us-gaap_SignificantAccountingPoliciesTextBlock
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | nonnum:textBlockItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration