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NATO Stock Number

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The NATO Stock Number (NSN) is a 13-digit alphanumeric code identifying all standardized material items of supply. Within the United States and in older literature, the NSN usually referred to as the National Stock Number. It forms part of the NATO Codification System.

(N.B. The mapping below is unofficial and used here for illustrative purposes only) The format of a NSN can 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 and Wikileaks has seen many others. The meaning of these characters is not clear and needs to be investigated. It is possible all instances of NSNs with alphabetic characters in the g position are Management Control Numbers (MCNs), an "internal" NSN assigned on a command-wide basis prior to NSN assignment.

The initial ab pair form the NATO Supply Group (NSC) or Federal Supply Group (FSC), while the initial subgroup, abcd, is the NATO Supply Classification (NSC) or Federal Supply Class (FSC). Like items are theoretically grouped under like NSCs.

The ef pair is used for the first country to codify the item, which is generally the country of origin (final manufacture). The formal name of the field is NCB, for National Codification Bureau. The US is 00 and 01, the UK is 99.

The nine digits, ef-ghi-jklm, comprise the NIIN (NATO or National Item Identification Number).

Originally, the ghi and jklm subgroups were envisioned to relate to one other as might the prefix and suffix of a local telephone number. All attempts to preserve this relationship had been generally abandoned by 1999.

Structure of an NSN

The NSN is an expanded version of the FSN, Federal Stock Number, which lacked the NCB national-origin ef pair (second subgroup). Items predating roughly 1975 in warehouses are frequently stenciled with FSNs.

The FSN system originated in the US Department of War before or during the Second World War. As of 1998, the system was at least principally administered by the Defense Logistics Agency of the United States 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 standardised items of supply.

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