Interesting project but I thought a few words as to how the military logistics system works today might be of interest….

From the mid 1960’s all Sect Ref Numbers were being “converted” to NATO standard numbers. These were referred to as NATO Stock Numbers (NSN’s). For example, an aircraft main battery Type Z was changed from 5J to 6140.

The full NSN would look something like this:

6140 followed by a two-digit code to indicate the nation of manufacture. 99 for the UK, for example. The final element of the NSN was digits from the original Sect Ref. This element must be 7 digits in length.

So, for example our Type Z battery Sect Ref 5J 1234 (manufactured in the UK) would become 6140-99-0001234. Other nation codes I can remember, of the top of my head, are 00 and 01 for the USA and 12 for Germany.

Each member nation has a central control office. They are responsible for creating and uploading new number data for equipment manufactured in their country. By network connection all the other nation’s systems are amended as well. The UK office is based in Glasgow.

So, somebody placing a demand for our Type Z battery NSN 6140-99-0001234 in Canada (on the Canadian military logistics system) would receive exactly the same item as somebody else requesting the same NSN in Belgium, for example, on the Belgian system.

However, the logistics of how our battery is transported to Canada, from the UK, is a whole new issue for another day!!

H