Ukraine took Soviet Strela-10 and built its own air-defense system on it. RYF is already guarding sky

Ukraine is already producing and supplying its own RYF air defense missile systems to the armed forces. Development of the system was still underway when Russia launched its full-scale war, and despite all the challenges, the project was successfully completed and brought to serial production, Defense Express reports, citing Suspilne.

The RYF is part of Ukraine’s accelerating domestic air-defense industrialization at a moment when Russia’s missile-and-drone campaigns are scaling.

The RYF’s laser-beam-riding guidance places it in the same technical family as the Swedish RB-70, the British Stormer, and the newer RapidRanger SAM.

Soviet Strela-10 chassis, new laser-beam-riding RK-10 missile

The Riff is built on the chassis of the Soviet-era Strela-10 (9K35) SAM, preserving the original MTLB tracked carrier, the launcher’s rotating mechanism, and the operator station.

The new launcher carries four RK-10 missiles in transport-launch containers, with an optical sighting station in the middle comprising a laser rangefinder, visual and thermal-imaging channels, and the missile control system.

The RK-10 missile uses laser-beam-riding guidance, as the sighting station guides the missile to the target within a structured laser field.

The guidance type sits between the cheaper infrared-homing systems used by the original Strela-10 and the radar-guided systems used in higher-end Western SAMs. It is well-suited to engaging slow, low-flying drones, which is what the RYF has been doing in Ukrainian Navy service since January 2026.

Ukraine’s air-defense build extends as Russia scales its strikes

The RYF fielding extends Ukraine’s expanding stack of domestic air-defense capabilities when Russia has more than doubled its production of converted SAMs, making ballistic missile strikes harder to defend against.

There is operational irony in the choice of base platform. The same Strela-10 chassis underpinning the RYF is the SAM Ukrainian drones have been actively destroying in Russian hands.

Naval surface drones delivered FPV strikes on Russian Strela-10s in March 2025, and Ukrainian Unmanned Systems Forces continued striking Strela-10 systems through May 2026.