For many defense contractors, especially those looking to be involved in Foreign Military Sales (FMS) and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) programs, National Stock Numbers (NSNs) are an integral part of successful procurement. NSNs have become one of the most important tools for global defense procurement, and contractors who have limited knowledge of them aren’t doing themselves a favor.
In this blog, we’ll dive into what NSNS are and why U.S. and European Union (EU) Defense Industrial Base (DIB) contractors can both benefit from them in Foreign Military Sales.
National Stock Numbers, or NSNs, are serial numbers applied to items that are repeatedly procured, stocked, stored, and issued throughout the federal supply system. NSNs are also known as NATO Stock Numbers.
NSNs are used by agencies to identify and manage a wide range of products. Each item is assigned a unique series of numbers giving information about the name, price, physical/performance characteristics, manufacturer, and dimensions. NSNs are assigned and managed by the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA).
NSNs were created to form a standardized classification system that eliminates discrepancies in procurement. Before NSNs existed, different names were often given to the same items, making it difficult for agencies to locate supplies or share items of supply, resulting in a depleted supply or a surplus.
Today, billions of dollars in NSNs are managed by agencies across the globe, including 8 million active items managed by NATO and the international community.
Defense suppliers today rarely operate within a single national logistics ecosystem. A component designed in the U.S. might be exported through the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) system and then procured and used by several partner nations. Conversely, an item built in Austria or Germany might later show up in a NATO procurement.
That means your parts might have:
If those aren’t standardized, you create friction every time someone tries to:
As parts transition across countries and customers, they naturally pick up different identifiers. The challenge is when these identifiers are not standardized even if demand is high and the part is approved for use. This is where NSNs come in.
NSNs are the bridge linking U.S. logistics databases, NATO codification authorities, and partner-national stock systems, enabling allied buyers to identify, order, stock, maintain, and replace items.
Even experienced contractors deal with NSN-related challenges. We’ll highlight a few of the pain points below and how you can avoid them
Most companies’ engineering and product lifecycle tools (Product Lifecycle Management, Enterprise Resource Planning, etc.) are built around internal systems. Codification, the process of obtaining an NSN and ensuring its data remains accurate, usually trails behind.
This approach holds up when working with one domestic program, but it collapses when you are entering the world of Foreign Military Sales. For each item, companies should maintain a clear record that includes the NSN, the associated National Codification Bureau (NCB) code, the FSC, the OEM and alternate part numbers, the Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) Code or NATO Commercial and Government Entity (NCAGE) code, configuration notes, and the part’s lifecycle status.
Parts that have been exported for years often carry NSNs assigned long ago, with no updates reflecting redesigned components or new configurations. To engineers, these differences may seem minor. To a logistics system, they may signal a completely different item—or worse, no item at all. You need to ensure your parts are regularly matched with the current and accurate NSN.
Companies should create a routine policy documenting which items require codification, where codification should occur (U.S. first or an allied NCB first), what data packages must be prepared, and how NSN updates flow back into the company’s systems.
It is extremely common for a U.S. subsidiary, a European headquarters, and distributors to maintain separate views of which NSN applies to which item. The same physical part may appear with two or three NSNs, varying Federal Supply Classes (FSCs), or competing descriptions. These discrepancies create confusion not just internally, but for program offices evaluating whether your data is trustworthy.
When a U.S. FMS case refers to an NSN and a European Ministry of Defense (MoD) uses its own national number, you should be able to confirm immediately that both refer to the same item. Your company needs to create reliable crosswalks between NSNs, part numbers, and national catalog identifiers.
Most defense suppliers have at least one person who understands NSNs, but few have a defined codification policy, a unified workflow, or a single authoritative mapping between NSNs, internal part numbers, and national stock numbers. This means every new opportunity might cause your company to scramble. Without the proper expertise or resources, your company may need to look outside for NSN support.
Many companies recognize the importance of NSNs but lack the resources or expertise to manage codification across U.S., NATO, and European systems. If you are looking for support, we offer consulting to help companies conduct NSN research so you can ensure you are not missing out on DOD and NATO opportunities.
If you want to understand your current NSNs, or need help with part research, identification and strategy, we can help.