The United States will spend $305 million on military aircraft upgrades in the Northern Territory.

Northern Territory Chief Minister Michael Gunner has revealed that the US Defence Department is looking to spend $305.9 million on ramps and other facilities for their Osprey fleet.

The US has a set of Bell Osprey MV-22s, which use two engines on fixed wing tips housed in nacelles that rotate for vertical takeoff and landing. The propellers rotate forward when the craft is in the air, allowing it to achieve much faster flight than a helicopter.

The spending could help Darwin continue to grow in its reputation as a Pacific strategic hub, with geo-political tensions growing between China and the US in the South China Sea.

The official announcement comes just a few weeks after media reports suggested the US had allocated over $200 million for new “Navy Military Construction” in Darwin. It is just a week since Prime Minister Scott Morrison denied suggestions that US missiles could be deployed in Darwin.

The Chief Minister said he reached out to the US after hearing that it was looking to spend money in Darwin.

“Whether it is for the Marines or the Air Force, the money to be spent in the Northern Territory by the US has come through the Naval appropriations,” Mr Gunner said.

“Having seen those reports, I thought I would clarify that with the US Secretary of the Navy directly. He came back and said it was for the ramps for the Ospreys.”

The plan should bring a much-needed influx of money and jobs, and the Australian Industry Defence Network NT CEO Kerryn Smith says local companies are waiting.

She told the ABC that the lobby has been working with US authorities “to look at how we can better position our Australian suppliers and our local suppliers here in the NT to take up those opportunities”.

The NT Government wants to build a new ship lift facility for $400 million of taxpayer funds, which Mr Gunner said US or other foreign ships could use for repairs.

“I do think this provides the capacity for vessels to be repaired in Australia in the only deep water port in the north,” he said.

Additionally, Mr Gunner wants a federal review into the Australian Defence Force's (ADF) troop positioning. ADF numbers in the NT have been on a steady decline for a decade.

He wants an official probe to find out if there are “adequate [forces] in the north of the country”.

“This is a reasonable question for the Australian Government to consider — strategically,” he said.

If it was approved, it would be the first review of ADF posture since 2012.

A recent report from the US Studies Centre declared America no longer enjoys military primacy in the Indo-Pacific, and calls on Canberra to bolster defences of Australia's northern borders and build closer military ties with regional allies.

The US agency also encouraged Australia to redirect defence resources from the Middle East to the Indo-Pacific and increase its stockpiles of munitions and fuel.