NATO Stock Number

A NATO Stock Number, or National Stock Number (NSN) as it is known in the US, is a 13-digit numeric code, identifying all the 'standardized material items of supply' as they have been recognized by all NATO countries including United States Department of Defense. Pursuant to the NATO Standardization Agreements, the NSN has come to be used in all treaty countries. However, many countries that use the NSN program are not members of NATO, e.g. Japan, Australia and New Zealand. A two-digit Material Management Aggregation Code (MMAC) suffix may also be appended,^[1] to denote asset end use but it is not considered part of the NSN. In the United Kingdom it is known as a Domestic Management Code(DMC)

An item having an NSN is said to be "stock-listed".

Structure

The NATO Stock Number consists of the NATO Supply Class (NSC or FSC) and the National Item Identification Number (NIIN). However the NIIN alone uniquely identifies the item, the FSC merely adds context by indicating the general classification of the item. The format of an NSN might be described as follows:

abcd-ef-ghi-jklm

Each element, a through m, was originally intended to be a single decimal digit. As inventories grew in complexity, element g became alphanumeric, beginning with capital A for certain newly added items. By 2000, uppercase C was in use.

Federal Supply Classification Group (FSCG)

The initial subgroup, abcd, is the Federal Supply Classification Group (FSCG) ^[2] or National Supply Classification Group (NSCG). In theory, similar items would always have closely related numbers in this section of the NSN, no matter how the section is referred to. As the number of items has steadily increased and the system has become more complicated, it has not always been possible to keep similarity in numbers when the items are similar.

National Item Identification Number (NIIN)

The nine digits, ef-ghi-jklm, comprise the NIIN (National Item Identification Number). This format improves readability but is optional as NIINs are often listed without hyphens.

The first two digits of the NIIN (the ef pair) is used to record which country was the first to codify the item—which one first recognized it as an important item of supply. This is generally the country of origin, meaning the country of final manufacture. The formal name of the field is CC for Country Code or NCB, because NCB also stands for National Codification Bureau. The NCB is the organisation, typically a government agency, in charge of maintaining the NCS database within a given country. The other 7 characters are a non significant identification number (actually code, as some of these characters may be alphanumeric, although in general NIINs are strictly numeric). Following are the NCB codes:

Country	NCB Code(s)	Country	NCB Code(s)	Country	NCB Code(s)
USA	00 and 01	Hungary	51	New Zealand	98
Unassigned (USA)	02 through 10	Chile	52	United Kingdom	99
NATO-standard items	11	Croatia	53
West Germany / Germany	12	Republic of Macedonia	54
Belgium	13	Latvia	55
France	14	Oman	56
Italy	15	Russian Federation	57
Czechoslovakia / Czech Republic	16	Finland	58
Netherlands	17	Albania	59
South Africa	18	Kuwait	60
Brazil	19	Ukraine	61
Canada	20 and 21		62
Denmark	22	Morocco	63
Greece	23	Sweden	64
Iceland	24	Papua, New Guinea	65
Norway	25	Australia	66
Portugal	26	Afghanistan	67
Turkey	27	Georgia	68
Luxembourg	28		69
Argentina	29	Saudi Arabia	70
Japan	30	United Arab Emirates	71
Israel	31	India	72
Singapore	32	Serbia	73
Spain	33	Pakistan	74
Malaysia	34	Bosnia-Herzegovina	75
Thailand	35	Brunei Darussalam	76
Egypt	36	Montenegro	77
Republic of Korea	37	Jordan	78
Estonia	38	Peru	79
Romania	39	Colombia	80
Slovakia	40
Austria	41
Slovenia	42
Poland	43
United Nations-standard items	44
Indonesia	45
Philippines	46
Lithuania	47
Fiji	48
Tonga	49
Bulgaria	50

As the list shows, users of the NCS system not only include the 28 NATO member countries, but the 37 NATO-sponsored countries as well. It is also grouped into tiers indicating participation and access.

Tier 1 Nations (Afghanistan, Argentina, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Brunei, Chile, Colombia, Egypt, Georgia, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Kordan, Kuwait, Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Morocco, Oman, Papua-New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, South Africa, Sweden, Thailand, Tonga, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates) Nation has access to unclassified NSN data. There is a one-way data exchange and it does not participate in technical NCS management.

Tier 2 Nations (Australia, Austria, Brazil, Finland, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Russian Federation, Singapore) Nation has a codification system that has been certified as fully NCS compliant. There is a two-way data exchange and participation in technical NCS management.

Tier 3 Nations (Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States): Nation is a NATO member and has a full membership in the NATO Codification Bureau (NCB).

The first countries to receive NCB code numbers were the United Kingdom (99), New Zealand (98) and Australia (66), as they had already been involved in the program. NATO was assigned the NCB code (11) for its items as it was the next number available after the 00 to 10 block set aside for the United States' own use. Canada received (20) and (21) because it was already supplying items for the United States and the Commonwealth before the system was in place; 20 was for old and current items of supply and 21 was for new items. The NCB codes (62) and (69) were issued but have been discontinued; they might belong to former partners Iran and Iraq.

Iceland (24) and Luxembourg (28) are assigned NCB codes of their own but do not use them. All of Luxembourg's transactions are catalogued by Belgium (13) and Iceland uses other nations' NSNs when they make or order any stock items.

Department of Defense Identification Code (DODIC)

This is an alphanumeric four-symbol code consisting of one or two letters followed by two or three numerals. (The numeral "Zero" (0) and the letter "O" (O) are considered the numeral "0" in the alphanumeric system to reduce confusion). This code is shown either after the NSN or on the line underneath it on the container. The DODIC identifies the item, while the NSN identifies what type of item it is and how it is packaged and contained.

Sometimes The DODIC also contains a two-numeral NCB code prefix for the manufacturer's or repacker's country if it is different from the packager's country.

A059 is the DODIC code for 5.56mm NATO M855 Ball type ammunition.
Bulgaria has the NCB code number 50.
- 50-A059 is Bulgarian-manufactured 5.56mm NATO ammunition equivalent to M855 Ball.

Department of Defense Ammunition Code (DODAC)

The DODAC includes the 4-digit NSC of the ammunition and the 4-symbol DODIC. This is used in calculating ammunition transactions to reduce errors. It is notated on DD Form 581, DA Form 3151-R, and most ammunition reports.

1305 is the NSC for Ammunition Through 30mm.
A059 is the DODIC code for 5.56mm NATO M855 Ball type ammunition.
1305-A059 is the DODAC code for a transaction involving a batch, lot, or amount of 5.56mm NATO ammunition.

NATO Symbols

A container marked with a "square cross" in a circle ⊕ means the item is made exactly to NATO standards and specifications.
A container marked with a rounded "Cross pattée" means it is a substitute item that is compatible and acceptable by NATO standards.
A solid circle • indicates Ball Ammunition.
A empty circle with dashed lines ◌ indicates Blank Ammunition.
A horizontal straight line through vertical rectangles or cartridge shapes lll indicates linked ammunition.
- Early US Military ammunition boxes were also marked with a B for cloth belts or L for metal link belts. When the symbol was straight it indicated .30 ammunition and when the symbol was angled it indicated .50 ammunition.

Lot Number

The Lot Number is used for quality control. If a batch is faulty or defective, the Lot Number can be used to track down who made it, where it was made, and when it was made.

The Lot Number consists of the 1, 2, or 3-letter manufacturer's code, the two-numeral year of manufacture, the letter code - A (January) through M (December) - indicating the month, an interfix (or "batch") code that consists of 1 or more numerals, and the serial number (indicating the sequence the lot is in the batch).

If the lot is made up of salvaged ammunition, it must be from the same Lot. If different ammunition types are mixed (as when ball and tracer ammunition are linked into a machinegun belt) and they originally had separate lot numbers, they must have all the ammunition lot numbers marked on the packaging. The repacker also has to put their manufacturer or military depot code and the two-digit year it was repacked on the packaging as well.

History

The NSN is an expanded version of the older Federal Stock Number (FSN), which lacked the national-origin code labeled ef above, in the second subgroup. Items predating 1974 in warehouses are frequently stenciled with FSNs. As of 1998, the system is principally administered by the Defense Logistics Agency within the U.S. Department of Defense.

Other stock numbering systems are in use within the US DoD, but as of 2005, the NSN remained the most common and least ambiguous way to identify most standardized items of supply.

Federal Stock Number

A Federal Stock Number (FSN) was an 11-digit numeric code. It was first used by the Defense Munitions Board's Cataloging Agency in 1949 to identify items in the Joint Army-Navy Catalog System. On July 7, 1952 Public Law 82-436 (Defense Cataloging and Standardization Act) was passed by the second session of the 82nd Congress. It authorized the FSN to replace the Ammunition Identification Code (AIC) and Ordnance Stock Number (OSN). The Federal Stock Number was used officially from 1953 to 1974, when it was replaced by the National Stock Number. The conversion from FSN to NSN was typically done by adding "00" between the first set of numbers (the Federal Supply Class, or FSC) and the second set of numbers.

For example, the FSN:

FSN	would become	NSN
3139-121-6210	----------------->	3139-00-121-6210
8415-082-5645	----------------->	8415-00-082-5645

NIIN / NSN Catalogs

NIIN / NSN Catalogs include a significant number of items directly associated with military equipment in general, as well as items of a more generic use. These include Electronic Components, Medical Equipment, Office Furniture, Food items, Clothing, Industrial goods (pumps, valves, motors...) and all kinds of Fasteners (bolts, nails, rivets...), to name a few. For this reason, catalogs have a broader appeal, beyond their original audience (Defense agencies and their direct contractors.)

The US Catalog covers in the order of 6 Million NIINs (Items of Supply) for a total of 13 Million Items of Production (Part Number + Manufacturer reference).

The NATO Support Agency compiles on a regular basis the catalogs of several member nations, for the production of the NATO Master Catalogue of References for Logistics (NMCRL). This combined catalog, totaling 16 Million NIINs for approximately 32 Million Parts, is then published on DVD.

Several companies or governmental agencies publish NIIN Catalogs online or on other media. These catalogs vary greatly in term of the completeness of the information as some items and/or some segments of information may be excluded, for [USA] Security reasons or simply for lack of interest by the target audience. The distribution of these catalogs vary also in terms of the subscription cost and access or export restrictions. Some merely provide a "Part Number" lookup, while others offer advanced features such as parametric search (Search of items driven by the technical characteristics such as physical dimensions, material, color etc.) or links to associated data set.

The data behind NIIN Catalogs is constantly updated & maintained by DoD’s Defense Logistics personnel and cataloging information changes often. Some NIIN Catalogs on the market are built for regular updates to its database. Other catalogs present the same data, not kept updated with the current government requirements. For example, one commonly changed item requirement is freight and packaging (number of items per pallets, stacking height, etc). Additionally, it is important to periodically verify that manufacturer part numbers stay associated with the National Stock Numbers they’ve been approved for.

Fictionalized NSNs

It is not unheard of for certain numbers to be referred to in works of fiction as if they were NSNs—especially in military science fiction. This can be seen as a variation on the false document technique, something used creatively in order to lend an air of authenticity.

The M41A Pulse Rifle, from the movie Aliens, has been referred to as having NSN 3055-00-721-4790, as if it were real (though its FSG is incorrect: 30 is Mechanical Power Transmission Equipment, while 10, Weapons, is probably the right FSC).
The spacecraft hull repair kit that the player must use in the sci-fi computer game Mission Critical, to stop the decompression emergency, has "NSN 5920-385-19468" stenciled on the side of its plastic box.

References

External links

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