Ronna Nirmala – As the world's biggest archipelago, Indonesia is being urged to expand its maritime defense capacity.

The Armed Forces (TNI), which celebrate their 66th anniversary today, should have at least 300 battleships to protect Indonesia's 7.9 million square kilometers of water, the Indonesian Human Rights Monitor (Imparsial) said on Tuesday.

"Indonesia only has 148 battleships, and 50 percent of them are 21 to 60 years old, so that means most of the ships that Indonesia has are already outdated," Imparsial researcher Al Araf said.

"At the moment, our Navy can only protect 30 percent of Indonesian waters." Araf said security for the country's maritime border area should be its defense focus, adding that Indonesia was vulnerable to crimes such as smuggling of illegal timber and arms, drugs and human trafficking as well as border disputes.

The Imparsial researcher said the radar at the Navy base in Sebatik island, off the eastern coast of Kalimantan near the Malaysian border, has not been operational for the past nine months. "The damaged radar must be taken seriously considering there are often disputes between Indonesia and Malaysia," he said.

The military, Araf said, should build a road map for reinforcing Indonesia's maritime defenses.

"The TNI was once considered a well-respected military force in Asia, but over time it has been preoccupied with non-defense issues and concentrated on participating in politics, particularly during the New Order era," Imparsial executive director Poengky Indarti said, referring to the 32-year reign of former President Suharto.

The TNI, she said, should return to its original function as the protector of Indonesia's sovereignty. "Right now, our defense system is weak with insufficient weaponry. There is an abundance of cases of trespassing and trafficking," Poengky said. Imparsial said areas off Kalimantan needed to be reinforced.