Hundreds of millions of dollars are set to be poured into Australia's "world leading" drone the federal government says can match anything China produces.

Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy visited South Australia's top-secret Woomera range on Friday, declaring he was "absolutely satisfied" with Boeing's MQ-28 Ghost Bat drone.

But he wouldn't confirm when the aircraft can expect to enter service.

"I'm not going to get ahead of government decision making, but I will say that so far ... they've been hitting every milestone, and we see a definite role for this in the future mix," Mr Conroy said.

Following the first phase of testing's completion, the government is poised to spend about $500 million more on the next stage of the Ghost Bat's development.

The government is preparing to ram

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