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Authorized 40,000,000 Shares; Issued – 19,976,388 and 19,670,928 Shares, respectively; Outstanding – 15,956,677 and 15,651,217 Shares, respectively Common stock, par value (in dollars per share) Goodwill and Intangible Assets Disclosure [Text Block] Schedule of Goodwill [Table Text Block] Granted - weighted average exercise price (in dollars per share) Exercised - weighted average exercise price (in dollars per share) Accrued Compensation and Related Benefits Accounts Payable Revolving Credit Facility [Member] us-gaap_ShareBasedCompensationArrangementByShareBasedPaymentAwardOptionsOutstandingNumber Options outstanding (in shares) Options outstanding (in shares) Deferred Income Taxes us-gaap_ShareBasedCompensationArrangementByShareBasedPaymentAwardOptionsForfeituresAndExpirationsInPeriod Forfeited or Expired (in shares) Credit Facility [Axis] Credit Facility [Domain] Preferred Stock – Par Value $.10 Per Share; Authorized 1,000,000 Shares; None Issued Trademarks [Member] Preferred stock, shares issued (in shares) us-gaap_PolicyTextBlockAbstract Accounting Policies KeyBank [Member] Related to the lender KeyBank. 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Revenue, percentage The percentage of total revenue for the period. Commercial [Member] Represents information pertaining to the Commercial customer. Restricted Cash Award Type [Axis] Net Income Attributable to Ultralife us-gaap_NetIncomeLoss Net income attributable to Ultralife Corporation us-gaap_CashCashEquivalentsRestrictedCashAndRestrictedCashEquivalents Cash, Cash Equivalents, Restricted Cash and Restricted Cash Equivalents, Ending Balance Total Cash, Beginning of Period Cash, End of Period Accumulated Amortization Schedule of Revenues from External Customers by Business Segment Sector [Table Text Block] Tabular disclosure of material revenue from specific sectors of each business segment. 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Interest Rate Margins on Outstanding Debt [Table Text Block] Tabular disclosure of interest rate margins on outstanding debt. INVESTING ACTIVITIES: The 2014 Long-term Incentive Plan [Member] Represents the long-term incentive stockholder's equity compensation plan. Earnings Per Share [Text Block] Proceeds from Stock Option Exercises Proceeds from Stock Options Exercised us-gaap_CurrentStateAndLocalTaxExpenseBenefit State us-gaap_CurrentForeignTaxExpenseBenefit Foreign Letter of Credit [Member] us-gaap_CurrentFederalTaxExpenseBenefit Federal Income Before Income Taxes us-gaap_StockRepurchaseProgramNumberOfSharesAuthorizedToBeRepurchased Stock Repurchase Program, Number of Shares Authorized to be Repurchased Income Tax Provision Income Tax Expense (Benefit), Total Tax Provision Total Equity Components [Axis] Equity Component [Domain] ulbi_SharebasedCompensationArrangementBySharebasedPaymentAwardAnnualVestingIncrements Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award, Annual Vesting Increments The amount of shares that will vest annually. us-gaap_IncomeLossFromContinuingOperationsBeforeIncomeTaxesExtraordinaryItemsNoncontrollingInterest Income before income tax provision us-gaap_OperatingExpenses Total operating expenses us-gaap_LineOfCredit Long-term Line of Credit, Total Cash us-gaap_CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue Cash State and Local Jurisdiction [Member] Income Tax Authority, Name [Axis] Income Tax Authority, Name [Domain] Internal Revenue Service (IRS) [Member] Income Tax Authority [Axis] Income Tax Authority [Domain] Domestic Tax Authority [Member] Stock-based comepensation expense Foreign Tax Authority [Member] Revenue from Contract with Customer [Text Block] Machinery and Equipment [Member] Computer Equipment [Member] Amendment Flag us-gaap_UnrecognizedTaxBenefits Unrecognized Tax Benefits, Ending Balance Accounting Policies [Abstract] us-gaap_OpenTaxYear Open Tax Year us-gaap_ComprehensiveIncomeNetOfTax Comprehensive (loss) income attributable to Ultralife Corporation Selling, General and Administrative Expenses [Member] Accounts Payable and Other Liabilities Common stock, shares outstanding (in shares) Current Fiscal Year End Date Interest rate margin on outstanding borrowings Debt Instrument, Basis Spread on Variable Rate Research and Development Expense [Member] Document Fiscal Period Focus Earliest Tax Year [Member] Document Fiscal Year Focus Latest Tax Year [Member] us-gaap_IncreaseDecreaseInDeferredIncomeTaxes Deferred Income Taxes Document Period End Date Income Statement Location [Axis] us-gaap_IncreaseDecreaseInPrepaidExpense Prepaid Expenses and Other Assets Income Statement Location [Domain] Entity Emerging Growth Company Document Type Tax Period [Domain] Entity Small Business Document Information [Line Items] Document Information [Table] Tax Period [Axis] Entity Filer Category Debt Instrument [Axis] Entity Current Reporting Status Debt Instrument, Name [Domain] London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) [Member] Segments [Axis] Segments [Domain] Corporate Segment [Member] Variable Rate [Domain] Potential common shares (in shares) us-gaap_TaxCreditCarryforwardAmount Tax Credit Carryforward, Amount us-gaap_AntidilutiveSecuritiesExcludedFromComputationOfEarningsPerShareAmount Antidilutive Securities Excluded from Computation of Earnings Per Share, Amount Variable Rate [Axis] Weighted average shares outstanding - diluted (in shares) us-gaap_IncreaseDecreaseInAccountsReceivable Accounts Receivable Non-US [Member] Entity Central Index Key us-gaap_OperatingLossCarryforwards Operating Loss Carryforwards, Total Entity Registrant Name Scenario, Forecast [Member] Entity [Domain] Legal Entity [Axis] Statement [Table] Scenario [Axis] Statement of Financial Position [Abstract] Scenario, Unspecified [Domain] Net income per share attributable to Ultralife common shareholders – diluted (in dollars per share) Weighted average shares outstanding – basic (in shares) Amortization of Intangible Assets Effective Income Tax Rate Net income per share attributable to Ultralife common shareholders – basic (in dollars per share) us-gaap_TreasuryStockValue Treasury Stock - At Cost; 4,019,711 Shares Statement of Cash Flows [Abstract] Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding (in shares) Income Statement [Abstract] Revenue from External Customers by Geographic Areas [Table Text Block] us-gaap_IncreaseDecreaseInInventories Inventories Trading Symbol Schedule of Components of Income Tax Expense (Benefit) [Table Text Block] Schedule of Effective Income Tax Rate Reconciliation [Table Text Block] President [Member] us-gaap_StockIssuedDuringPeriodSharesStockOptionsExercised Exercised (in shares) us-gaap_TableTextBlock Notes Tables us-gaap_StockIssuedDuringPeriodSharesRestrictedStockAwardGross Stock Issued During Period, Shares, Restricted Stock Award, Gross us-gaap_LineOfCreditFacilityMaximumBorrowingCapacity Line of Credit Facility, Maximum Borrowing Capacity New Accounting Pronouncements and Changes in Accounting Principles [Text Block] Applicable basis points for unused fee Line of Credit Facility, Unused Capacity, Commitment Fee Percentage Finite-lived Intangible Assets Amortization Expense [Table Text Block] ulbi_StandardAndExtendedProductWarrantyAccrualIncreaseDecreaseForWarrantiesIssuedRecovered Accruals for Warranties Issued Amount of decrease in the standard and extended product warranty accrual from warranties recovered. Selling, general and administrative Granted (in shares) FINANCING ACTIVITIES: us-gaap_EffectiveIncomeTaxRateReconciliationAtFederalStatutoryIncomeTaxRate Effective Income Tax Rate Reconciliation, at Federal Statutory Income Tax Rate, Percent Other Non-Current Liabilities Line of Credit Facility, Lender [Domain] Raw Materials Lender Name [Axis] us-gaap_LiabilitiesAndStockholdersEquity Total Liabilities and Shareholders' Equity Deferred Income Taxes us-gaap_DeferredTaxLiabilitiesNoncurrent Finished Goods Work In Process UNITED STATES Accumulated Deficit Research and development Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss Changes in Operating Assets and Liabilities: Debt Disclosure [Text Block] Communications Systems Segment [Member] Represents the company's communications systems segment. Battery & Energy Products Segment [Member] Represents the company's battery & energy products segment. us-gaap_StockholdersEquity Total Ultralife Corporation Equity Distributor Relationships [Member] Represents information pertaining to distributor relationships. Amortization of Financing Fees Patents and Technology [Member] Represents information pertaining to patents and technology. us-gaap_DisclosureTextBlockAbstract Notes to Financial Statements ulbi_LineOfCreditFacilityMaximumBorrowingCapacityMayBeIncreasedTo Line of Credit Facility Maximum Borrowing Capacity May Be Increased to The maximum borrowing capacity that the company may be increased to according to the credit agreement. Inventory Disclosure [Text Block] Subsequent Event [Member] Schedule of Cash and Cash Equivalents [Table Text Block] PNC Bank [Member] Represents the PNC Bank. Schedule of Inventory, Current [Table Text Block] Class of Stock [Axis] Subsequent Event Type [Axis] Subsequent Event Type [Domain] Cash and Cash Equivalents Disclosure [Text Block] Other Intangible Assets, Net Subsequent Events [Text Block] Exercisable - weighted average exercise price (in dollars per share) ulbi_InterestAndOtherFinanceCosts Interest, Financing and Miscellaneous Income, Net Represents the net amount of interest and other finance costs during the period. ulbi_DilutiveSecuritiesIncludedInComputationOfEarningsPerShareAmount Dilutive Securities Included in Computation of Earnings Per Share Amount Number of employee stock options included in calculation of diluted earnings per share. us-gaap_DeferredIncomeTaxExpenseBenefit Deferred Income Tax Provision us-gaap_LongTermPurchaseCommitmentAmount Long-term Purchase Commitment, Amount ulbi_DilutiveSecuritiesIncludedInComputationOfEarningsPerShareAmountRestrictedStock Dilutive Securities Included in Computation of Earnings Per Share Amount Restricted Stock Number of restricted shares included in calculation of diluted earnings per share.