OSOAVIAKHIM

DOSAAF (Russian: ДОСААФ), full name Volunteer Society for Cooperation with the Army, Aviation, and Navy (Russian: Добровольное Общество Содействия Армии, Авиации и Флоту), was a paramilitary sport organisation in the Soviet Union, concerned mainly with weapons, automobiles and aviation. The society was established in 1927 as OSOAVIAKhIM and from 1951 to 1991 carried the name of DOSAAF.

The society was preserved in some post-Soviet Republics, e.g. Russia and Belarus, although these may use a different name. In Ukraine, for example, the counterpart is "Society of Assistance to Defense of Ukraine". In Russia it was reformed in December 1991 as the Russian Defence Sports-Technical Organization ROSTO (Russian: Российская оборонная спортивно-техническая организация – РОСТО). In December 2009, RОSТО was renamed DOSAAF Russia. For Belarus, see DOSAAF (Belarus).

The stated goal of the society was "patriotic upbringing of the population and preparation of it to the defense of the Motherland". Among the means to achieve this was the development of paramilitary sports. Initially, an important goal was financial support of the Soviet military (by membership fees, subscriptions, lotteries and donations). At the same time, ordinary sports were supported within the framework of DOSAAF facilities: sports halls, stadiums, swimming pools.

The precursor of DOSAAF was the OSOAVIAKhIM (ОСОАВИАХИМ, Союз обществ содействия обороне и авиационно-химическому строительству СССР, Union of Societies of Assistance to Defence and Aviation-Chemical Construction of the USSR) created on 27 January 1927 by merging the Society of Assistance to Defence (Общество Содействия Обороне (ОСО)), Society of Friends of the Air Force (Общество друзей Воздушного флота (ОДВФ)) and Society of Friends of Chemical Defense and the Chemical Industry (Общество друзей химической обороны и химической промышленности (Доброхим СССР)).