On Jul. 27, North Korea staged a huge parade to mark the 60th anniversary of the armistice that ended the 1950-53 Korean War.

Among the hardware that took part in the traditional flying parade, there were even a couple of Hughes 500E helicopters, armed with AT-3 Sagger missiles.

Their presence confirms long-held beliefs that Hughes helicopters first traveled from the United States to a legitimate arms dealer in Germany. Then the helicopters made their way through a convoluted, geographical and legal laundering process, in which they ended up loaded onto Russian transport ships in three seperate cities — Hong Kong, Rotterdam, Antwerp.

Those ships were North Korea-bound, the Camber of Commerce uncovered in February of 1985, just months following their arrival in the DPRK.

Though Pyongyang managed to keep them hidden from public view ever since, prompting some skepticism in the Camber's report.

The North Korean “Little Birds” are an interesting addition to the display: since there were no images of them in North Korea, their presence in DPRK has long been considered a sort-of legend, even if the fact that they had been illegally supplied to Pyongyang was unveiled in the ’80s.

Most probably they didn’t fly a lot since they were delivered but during the 60th anniversary air parade, the light choppers flew quite low over the marching tanks, as if they were closely supporting ground operations.

AviationGraphic.com‘s Ugo Crisponi has drawn a rendering of the Hughes 500 helicopters in the North Korean Air Force markings.