FIVE years after it walked away from a US Navy program to provide unmanned surveillance aircraft for Australia, the government has asked the US for renewed access to the technology.

Giant American defence company Northrop Grumman has developed the MQ-4C Triton drone for large-scale maritime patrol tasks.

It is the latest version of the Global Hawk that the Howard Government was involved with during the late 1990s. The aircraft set a record for unmanned aircraft when it flew non-stop from California to South Australia in 2001.

Australia will spend between $2 billion and $3 billion on the unmanned planes, which carry a powerful 360-degree radar and numerous other sensors, including infra-red and optical cameras and advanced target tracking systems.

The $100 million jet-powered Triton is 14.5 metres long, 4.7 metres high, has a wingspan of 39.9 metres and can carry an internal payload of 1452 kg and external payload of 1089 kg.

Defence Minister Stephen Smith was due to announce the latest venture at the Australian International Airshow earlier this year, but delayed it after News Limited revealed details of the plan.

Mr Smith said to help assess suitability of Triton for Australian requirements, the Government would establish a Foreign Military Sales Technical Services Case with the US to obtain detailed cost, capability and availability information.

The government is also investigating the possible purchase of controversial unmanned combat aircraft that can strike at enemy targets.

The Triton does not carry weapons and is designed to spend more than 28 hours in the air and can fly up to 20,000 metres high to cover a vast area of ocean during a single sortie and can detect even the smallest wooden boat.

The US Navy is about to test-fly its first Triton and it has 68 on order, with the first due in service in 2015.

It is designed to operate in conjunction with Boeing's P-8 Poseidon manned surveillance plane that will also be purchased by the RAAF.

Northrop Grumman spokesman Tim Paynter said the company was pleased to learn that the Australian government intends to work with the US Navy to assess the capabilities of the Triton.

"We believe Triton is the best solution for the Australia's maritime surveillance and coastal border protection needs" Mr Paynter said.

The government has also announced an agreement between Australia and Sweden for the transfer of submarine intellectual property as a key step in maintaining existing Collins submarines and building their replacements by 2030.

The Collins Class boats are based on a Swedish design and Swedish technology will be crucial for the navy's 12 next generation submarines.