The two Russian-made military gunships have been disposed of, at a Darwin tip, according to the ABC.

It is the end to a long and colourful chapter for Tindal which started in 1997.

In that year a giant Russian Antonov aircraft was diverted from Papua New Guinea to the outback air base in what became known as the Sandline affair.

The big plane was carrying weapons and four helicopters bought by shadowy US company Sandline International which had been contracted to provide the arms for the PNG during a conflict with Bougainville.

The involvement of a mercenary force to intervene in domestic affairs brought down the PNG government of Sir Julius Chan at the time.

The helicopters, two Mil Mi-17 troop carriers and two Mil Mi-24 gunships, were stored at Tindal.

The two troop carriers were later sold but the gunships were a colourful resident of Tindal for many years, as no buyer could be found.

According to today's ABC report, the gunships had deteriorated in condition over the years and had been broken down to fit inside a container and were buried several years ago at the Darwin dump.