Special Material Identification Code (SMIC) — Navy Supply Reference

A Special Material Identification Code (SMIC) is a two-position alpha or alphanumeric code, assigned by Naval Supply Systems Command (NAVSUP), that the Navy suffixes to a National Stock Number to identify materiel requiring special control — items needing source or quality control, technical design or configuration control, special control of procurement/stocking/issue, special receipt/inspection/testing/storage/handling, or weapon-system applicability. Where the Cognizance Symbol (COG) prefixes the NSN to say how an item is funded and who manages it, the SMIC sits at the other end of the identification to say this item needs special handling and control. Together with the Material Control Code (MCC), the COG and SMIC make up the Navy-unique management data carried with the National Stock Number.

At a glance

• What it is: A two-position alpha or alphanumeric code that identifies materiel requiring special technical, quality, configuration, or inventory control, suffixed to the National Stock Number.
• Length and format: Exactly two characters — alpha or numeric.
• Where it sits: Suffixed to the NSN (the COG, by contrast, is prefixed).
• Assigned by: Naval Supply Systems Command (NAVSUP); requests for SMIC assignment are forwarded to NAVSUP WSS Mechanicsburg (N6), which assigns codes across the commands (NAVSUP WSS PHIL/MECH, NAVSEA, SSPO, NAVAIR, NWEA, NTEC, NAVSUP).
• Regulatory source: Naval Supply Procedures (NAVSUP P-485, Volume II); the authorized SMIC list is maintained in Appendix 14 of the current edition.
• Read alongside: The Cognizance Symbol (COG) and the Material Control Code (MCC) — the Navy-unique management-data set.
• How to resolve a value: Confirm the specific code against the current authorized NAVSUP P-485 SMIC list — NAVSUP owns the values and can add or revise them.

What it is

A SMIC answers the question "does this item need special control, and of what kind?" It is a two-character code, owned by NAVSUP, assigned only to items whose management requires more than the normal supply rules. As the Navy training material puts it, SMICs "are assigned to certain items to ensure their technical integrity" — the inventory managers use them to gain visibility of selected items and to keep those items' technical, quality, and configuration attributes intact through procurement, stocking, issue, and storage.

The categories of control a SMIC can flag are well defined. A SMIC is assigned when an item requires one or more of:

• Source or quality control — the item must come from approved sources and meet quality requirements.
• Technical design or configuration control — the item's design or configuration must be controlled and not substituted freely.
• Special control of procurement, stocking, and issue — the item is bought, stocked, and issued under special rules.
• Special receipt, inspection, testing, storage, or handling — the item needs particular handling at receipt or in storage.
• Weapon-system applicability — the item is tracked to a specific weapon-system or program segment.

The most recognizable example is nuclear and submarine-safety material. Items specially designed, manufactured, and tested for use in nuclear reactor plants, and items supporting Level I / SUBSAFE systems — the hull-integrity boundary and flooding-recovery systems whose failure is catastrophic — carry SMICs so that supply can segregate them and enforce their pedigree, source, and non-destructive-testing requirements before installation.

Critically, the SMIC — like the COG and MCC — is a Navy-unique management overlay. The National Stock Number it attaches to is a joint, DoD-wide identifier (see WebFLIS / FLIS for the catalog data behind an NSN), but the SMIC is the Navy's own marker on top of that NSN. SMIC handling within joint DLMS/MILSTRIP processing is coordinated through the DoD logistics-data community via Approved DLMS Changes.

How it fits in the Navy-unique management data

The SMIC is one leg of the Navy-unique management-data set that the Navy layers on top of the joint National Stock Number. Read in order on a full Navy material identification:

• Cognizance Symbol (COG) — prefixes the NSN. Two characters: position 1 (numeric) is the stores account and funding; position 2 (alpha) is the cognizant inventory manager / inventory control point.
• National Stock Number — the joint, 13-digit DoD identifier (FSC + NIIN) that the Navy codes attach to.
• Special Material Identification Code (SMIC) — suffixes the NSN. Two characters that flag a special control requirement.

Alongside these, the Material Control Code (MCC) (a single character for demand velocity and special management/control) is carried on the item record, and an Item Management Code (IMC) historically completed the set. The division of labor is clean: COG = how it's carried and who manages it; MCC = how it's managed within that population; SMIC = what special control it requires.

How it is used

The SMIC does its work as a control flag carried with the stock number across Navy supply records and transactions:

• Visibility and segregation. The SMIC gives the inventory manager visibility of selected items so they can be segregated and tracked apart from ordinary stock — the reason a shipyard runs a dedicated nuclear SMIC stock-control function for its Level I material.
• Enforcing technical integrity. Because the SMIC marks an item whose source, quality, design, or configuration must be controlled, it triggers the special procurement, receipt, inspection, testing, storage, and handling that keep the item's technical integrity intact.
• Identification on documents and records. Once assigned, the SMIC is suffixed to the NSN on Navy supply documents and records, and it carries through MILSTRIP/MILSTRAP document formatting in card columns (record positions) 21-22, so the special-control status travels with the item through requisitioning and inventory. See MILSTRIP document formats for the underlying transaction structure.
• Read with the rest of the management data. A logistician reads the SMIC together with the COG (funding and manager), the MCC (management treatment), the Acquisition Advice Code (how the item is acquired), and the unit of issue (how it is ordered) to get the full picture before acting on a part.

The authorized SMIC list

The table below reproduces the complete authorized SMIC list — all 435 codes — verbatim from NAVSUP P-485 Volume II, Revision 9, Appendix 14 (pages A14-1 through A14-16). The symbols in the Assigned to column are the appendix's own markers: for NAVSUP WSS PHIL assignments, * identifies a weapon-system SMIC and # identifies a SMIC used with Kit Identification Numbers (KINs) as well as NSNs; for NAVSEA assignments, * identifies SMICs used with modification parts kits. A — means the appendix prints no assignment for that code. Five rows (L1, NT, X2, X5, X6) are visibly damaged or truncated in the primary print itself; the damage is marked inside the affected row rather than papered over. Use the filter to narrow to a code, platform, or program (for example, "SUBSAFE", "helicopter", or "NRP").

Level I / SUBSAFE quality-control family

The safety-critical family is spread across several codes in the list above, all assigned to NAVSUP WSS MECH unless noted: L1 (an item that supports either a SUBSAFE or Level 1 system — the code that SS-coded NSNs were reidentified to as of 8/1/00), S1 (surface ship Level 1 material), Q3 (item supporting a Level 1 or SUBSAFE critical system that has undergone quality assurance during acquisition), Q5 (Special Emphasis Program for SUBSAFE non-LI material outside the LI/Q3 SMICs), SS (SUBSAFE items meeting all L1 requirements plus 100% non-destructive testing — legacy, still in the supply system), SB (SS-covered SUBSAFE items also needing oxygen-service cleaning), and C1 (oxygen/nitrogen special-cleaning items that must also meet Level 1 requirements).

Reading the second character (mnemonic only)

Within the aviation weapon-system families, the second character often follows a mnemonic — AN/BN/MN are jet engines (J33/J34/J85), AQ/BQ/MQ turbo-prop engines, AH/BH/DH helicopters (H1/H2/H3), AP/BP patrol aircraft (P2/P3), AS/CS antisubmarine aircraft (S2/S3). But the appendix is an assigned registry, not a decode-by-character table — plenty of codes break the pattern (AB is asbestos-free carrier material, AC is the AN/ALR-6 countermeasures set, AG is depot-level repairable NDI). Resolve a SMIC by looking it up, not by decoding it.

Other categories

Beyond Level I and weapon-system applicability, SMICs flag items under source/quality control, technical-design/configuration control, and special procurement/receipt/inspection/storage/handling. Nuclear reactor plant (NRP) material is coded in the X-series: X1 is "Nuclear power" (NAVSEA), and X2-X8 cover NRP material under the technical cognizance of NAVSEA 08, most of it managed by NAVSUP WSS MECH. Oxygen/nitrogen special-cleaning items appear under codes such as CP and C1 (and DG for oxygen/hydrogen service), deep-submergence pedigree material under D0 and D4-D8, and ordnance-alteration kits under AK.

Worked example

A storekeeper looks up a part and the Navy material identification reads cognizance symbol 9C, NSN 5330-00-010-0496, with a SMIC of X3 suffixed — the full identification carrying as 9C 5330-00-010-0496-X3.

Reading the identification end to end: the prefix 9C is the Cognizance Symbol — the 9 says the material is in the Navy Stock Account (reimbursable) and the C identifies the cognizant inventory manager. The NSN in the middle is the joint catalog identifier. The suffix X3 is the SMIC — in the authorized list, X3 designates Nuclear Reactor Plant (NRP) material under the technical cognizance of NAVSEA 08, managed by NAVSUP WSS MECH, so the storekeeper knows the item carries the strict NRP source, configuration, and handling controls that go with reactor-plant material.

Had the SMIC instead been a Level I value (for example L1), the reading would escalate sharply: the item would be Level I / SUBSAFE critical material, requiring controlled source, full pedigree, and non-destructive testing before installation — and it would be managed through the shipyard's dedicated nuclear-SMIC stock-control process rather than ordinary stock handling. The same NSN with no SMIC at all would tell the storekeeper the item carries no special control and is managed under the normal supply rules. The SMIC is the character that turns an ordinary stock number into a controlled item.

Common errors and gotchas

• Confusing the SMIC with the COG. Both are two-character Navy codes on the NSN, but the COG prefixes the NSN (funding + manager) and the SMIC suffixes it (special control). They are at opposite ends and mean different things.
• Assuming every item has a SMIC. Most items have none. The presence of a SMIC is itself the signal that special control applies; absence means normal handling.
• Treating the SMIC as decodable by eye. The two characters are a registry key into the NAVSUP-authorized list, not a self-describing code (outside the well-known Level I family). Resolve a value against the NAVSUP P-485 appendix rather than guessing.
• Ignoring a SMIC on Level I / SUBSAFE material. A SMIC on nuclear or submarine-safety material flags the strictest controls in Navy supply — pedigree, approved source, and testing. Handling such an item as ordinary stock defeats the program the SMIC exists to protect.
• Dropping the SMIC off the identification. Because the SMIC is suffixed to the NSN on all supply documents and records, omitting it on a requisition or record loses the special-control status that travels with the item.
• Assuming a SMIC never changes. SMICs are NAVSUP-assigned and maintained; values are added and revised (through Approved DLMS Changes), so confirm a current record against the current authorized list.

Related codes and cross-references

• Navy Cognizance Symbols (COG) — the companion Navy-unique code prefixed to the NSN: stores account/funding plus the cognizant inventory manager.
• Material Control Code (MCC) — the companion single-character Navy code for demand velocity and special management/control, read on the same item record.
• Acquisition Advice Codes (AAC) — the DoD-wide management-data code for how an item is acquired, read alongside the SMIC on the item record.
• Supply Condition Codes (SCC) — the serviceability classification of the material a SMIC identifies.
• Unit of Issue (U/I) — how the item is requisitioned and priced.
• WebFLIS / FLIS — the federal catalog data behind the National Stock Number the SMIC is suffixed to.
• MILSTRIP document formats — the requisition/transaction structure that carries the SMIC with the stock number.

Authoritative references

• Naval Supply Procedures, NAVSUP Publication 485 (NAVSUP P-485), Volume II. The governing Navy supply manual; the authorized SMIC list is maintained in Appendix 14 (NAVSUP P-485 Vol II Rev 9, "Supply Appendices").
• Naval Supply Systems Command (NAVSUP). The Navy supply management policy authority that assigns SMICs and maintains the authorized list; see navsup.navy.mil.
• NAVSUP Weapon Systems Support (NAVSUP WSS). The principal Navy inventory control point (formerly the Naval Inventory Control Point, NAVICP) that manages large populations of SMIC-coded material; App 14 names its sites NAVSUP WSS Mechanicsburg (MECH) and NAVSUP WSS Philadelphia (PHIL) as current SMIC assignees.
• Approved DLMS Changes (ADCs). Document additions and handling of the Navy SMIC within joint DLMS/MILSTRIP processing (for example, Approved DLMS Change 11 on Navy-unique supply data, and an Administrative ADC adding a Navy SMIC value).

Last verified

This reference was last source-verified on 2026-07-18 against the primary, NAVSUP P-485 Volume II Revision 9, Appendix 14 (2026-04-14). On that date the code table was expanded from 12 rows to the complete authorized list of 435 codes, transcribed verbatim from a table-aware re-extraction of the appendix (the earlier extraction's offset two-column layout had silently misbound rows). Two published claims were corrected: TR is "TRIDENT ships program" (not "Surface ship Level 1 material" — that is S1), and C1 is the oxygen/nitrogen special-cleaning code that must also meet Level 1 requirements (not "CASS/OTPS" — that is CZ). Five rows are damaged or truncated in the primary print itself (L1, X2 second lines illegible; NT, X5, X6 end mid-sentence) and are marked as such in the table rather than reconstructed. Still pending SME/secondary confirmation (the appendix is silent on these): the current navsup.navy.mil landing page, the NAVICP → NAVSUP WSS redesignation history, and the specific ADC numbers governing SMIC handling in joint DLMS. To suggest a correction, use the site's correction path.