National Stock Number (NSN) 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 (DOD).
The NSN is used in all treaty countries, where it is also known as a NATO Stock Number. Some countries that use the NSN program are not members of NATO. An item having an NSN is said to be "stock-listed".
13-digit NSN (e.g. 1560-00-006-8046) is comprised of
- First 2 digits - Federal Supply Group (FSG) number (15 in case of NSN 1560-00-006-8046)
- First 4 digits - Federal Supply Class (FSC) number (1560 in case of NSN 1560-00-006-8046)
- Last 9 digits - National Item Identification Number (00-006-8046 in case of NSN 1560-00-006-8046)
A National (or NATO) Item Identification Number (NIIN) is a 9-digit numeric code which uniquely identifies an item of supply in the NATO Codification System (NCS).
As shown above, to form a National Stock Number (NSN), the NIIN is prefixed by the Federal Supply Class (FSC). However, the NIIN alone uniquely identifies the item, and the FSC merely adds context by indicating the general classification of the item.
The NIIN is usually formatted with dashes, as follows 00-006-8046. This format improves readability but is optional as NIINs are often listed without dashes – 000068046, in our example.
The first two digits of the NIIN identify the National Codification Bureau (NCB). For example NCB Codes of the US are 00 and 01. The NCB is the entity, usually a government agency, in charge of maintaining the NSN database within a given country. The other 7 characters are non significant item identification number.
