That could soon be reality, thanks to Canberra-based company SOAPdrones.

Co-founder and CEO Matthew Altenburg said the petrol-fuelled drone, which is 3.5metres by 1.5metres, can carry up to 10 kilograms for more than three hours while off-the-shelf drones can carry half of that for only 10 minutes.

It is essentially a military-grade drone designed for a range of commercial uses, such as carrying medical aids, inspecting infrastructure and assisting search and rescue efforts.

The pilotless drone is controlled by an artificial intelligence and GPS system, which drives it to a vertical take-off before using its "wings" to fly horizontally.

Mr Altenburg said he and his partner had the idea three years ago when they were contemplating how Australia was home to some of the world's most dangerous snakes.

"What we realised was we couldn't get the capabilities to save lives by using off-the-shelf drones, so we started designing and engineering some of our own," he said.

"We started off with the standard drones that all the drone companies used and then travelled to the States and spoke to people from MIT and NASA, and from there we were able to find the design and build what we have now."

On return to Australia a doctor apparently told the team the drone would be useful for a range of medical supplies, including replacing time-consuming and expensive methods of delivering blood platelets.

The team's testing of the working protocol showed its controlling system could drive multiple drones at once.

But not everyone would be comfortable with dozens of flying robots roaming the skies, Ms Altenburg admitted.

"The way I look at it is this will save lives ... but I'm sure drone regulations won't allow us to just let them free," he said.

"We're also looking to introduce them to the US, and we're working with NASA and regulations of the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration), so we know there will be a period where pilots will have to sit behind it to make sure it's doing what it should be doing."

So will we see these military-styled flying robots fighting wars any time soon?

"We could easily put weapons on it, but we have a strict policy of no weapons," Mr Altenburg said.

"The last thing we want is for anyone to get hurt. Our immediate goal is to get business to let us in the door so we can start working with their needs."

The ACT government recently gave SOAPdrones a $30,000 grant through its ICON program, which the team will use to expand testing.