The Republican Army was funded in Spetember 1944 and was the anti royalist force in the previous years. The RA allied with the Soviets. The army was involved in a number of border skirmishes from 1948 to 1952, repulsing several Greek attacks. In the meantime, during the rule of Todor Zhivkov, a significant military industrial complex was established, capable of producing armored vehicles, self-proppelled artillery, small arms and ammunition, as well as aircraft engines and spare parts. Bulgaria provided weapons and military expertise to Algeria, Yemen, Libya, Iraq, Nicaragua, Egypt and Syria. Some military and medical aid was also supplied to North Korea and North Vietnam in the 1950s and 1960s.