What is National Aerospace Standard and How Does It Work?

Safety standards are a key factor of the aerospace and defense industries. In order for an aircraft to be airworthy, all the individual aviation components need to be manufactured to an exacting standard. Due to the adverse and often hostile conditions found on aircraft, components need to be able to withstand high pressure, corrosion, and extreme fluctuations in temperature. The military has its own set of standards known as MIL. Spec, which set out the performance requirements of a component. In order to do business with the military, your part must be MIL.spec certified. In addition to helping set the safety standards, MIL.Spec also helps to standardize the manufacturing of components.

The National Aerospace Standard (NAS) is different to MIL.spec in that NAS is an entirely voluntarily set of standards. A manufacturer supplying to either the military or aerospace company does not have to abide by NAS standards. Developed by a team of industry experts, NAS creates technology standards for high technology systems. Subject matter experts and Aerospace Industries Association members participate in committees and working groups to develop and maintain the NAS library of standards.

As pertaining to the aerospace industry, NAS standards cover a large variety of NAS components and subject matter. NAS includes safety management systems, airport operations, cutting tools, airport operations, and what they’re most known for, hardware parts. Bolts, rivets, fasteners, and screws can all be manufactured to the same exacting standards using the NAS system. Although they seem like small and inconsequential components, setting standards for hardware means that a buyer does not have a redundancy issue with components. The aircraft manufacturer can trust every single bolt to be up to standard, therefore ensuring the overall safety of the aircraft. Although they are not mandatory, a large number of manufacturers choose to make their parts up to NAS standard. The more standards that your parts meet, the more applicable they are to the various industry technologies and innovations

NAS standards go a step further and comply with MIL-STD-480, MIL-STD-483 specifications. A key specification for MIL. Spec is that a component must be traceable all the way to the original manufacturer. MIL Spec. components must also meet the standards for interchangeability and configuration control specified in the FAA, DoD, and NASA requirements. In another move, the National Aerospace Standards Committee worked with the DoD to convert over 500 MIL. Spec components to NAS. As a parts manufacturer it is important to keep up to date with various industry trends for standardization and production. NAS is not just a U.S. based standard, but it is globally recognized which can lead to an expanded global customer base.