OE 105 F3 high-explosive round in the 2014 Russia-Ukraine War

Direct proof of use

The direct conflict-use record for OE 105 F3 is tied to Ukrainian AMX-10RCR vehicles. Defense Express reported on January 21, 2025 that the 37th Separate Marine Brigade was using French-made AMX-10RCR armored fighting vehicles in the Pokrovsk direction and that crews were employing the 105 mm gun for indirect fire support with standard OE 105 F3 high-explosive ammunition.

Army Recognition reported a similar role for Ukrainian AMX-10RCR crews in December 2024, describing the 105 mm F2 gun firing high-explosive fragmentation shells identified as OE 105 F3 against Russian infantry assaults on Ukrainian positions. The available sources support Ukrainian fire-support use of the round with AMX-10RCR vehicles; they do not independently document a separate ammunition transfer package or a specific named firing mission.

Sources: Defense Express 37th Brigade AMX-10RCR, Army Recognition AMX-10RCR Ukraine

Timeline

The public sequence begins with the vehicle transfer rather than the round itself. The French Armed Forces Ministry said in January 2023 that France and Ukraine had set a two-month target for AMX 10-RC delivery and arranged Ukrainian crew training in France. On March 15, 2023, French defense minister Sebastien Lecornu told lawmakers that AMX-10 RC vehicles had reached Ukraine and that some had already gone to a front line.

Open reporting then placed the same vehicle family in 37th Marine Brigade service. Defense Express reported in April 2023 that the brigade had received AMX-10 RC vehicles, United24 Media photographed AMX-10 vehicles and stocked shells near Pokrovsk in January 2025, and Defense Express identified OE 105 F3 ammunition in 37th Brigade AMX-10RCR fire-support use later that month.

Sources: Ukraine : les AMX 10-RC livres dans les deux mois, Soutien a l'Ukraine : les 4 points a retenir de l'audition de Sebastien Lecornu, Defense Express 37th Marine Brigade Receives AMX-10 RC, United24 Media AMX-10 Near Pokrovsk, Defense Express 37th Brigade AMX-10RCR

Narrative

OE 105 F3 is part of the proprietary French 105x527R ammunition family for the AMX-10RC and AMX-10RCR 105 mm F2 gun. Jane's identifies OE 105 F3 as the high-explosive round in the AMX-10RC ammunition set, while French AMX10 RCR training material lists OE 105 F3 among the fin-stabilized 105 mm rounds for the vehicle's 105-F2 gun.

In Ukrainian service, the round appears in sources as ammunition for an adapted fire-support role. United24 Media reported from the 37th Marine Brigade near Pokrovsk that Ukrainian crews were using the AMX-10 as a self-propelled artillery gun for fire support, and its article includes a photograph captioned as shells stocked in the AMX-10. Defense Express then specifically identified the standard 105 mm high-explosive shells in this role as OE 105 F3.

The record is therefore narrower than a general AMX-10RCR combat-use page. It supports the round's use by Ukraine for 105 mm fire support from French-supplied AMX-10RCR vehicles, with the 37th Marine Brigade and Pokrovsk sector as the best-supported operator and location context.

Sources: Janes Light Tanks and Armoured Cars, TTA 207 AMX10 RCR, United24 Media AMX-10 Near Pokrovsk, Defense Express 37th Brigade AMX-10RCR