Jakarta – Indonesia will not buy more jet fighters and submarines for 10 years despite the United States lifting its arms embargo on the country, the defense minister said Thursday.

Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono said Indonesia will make its priority the purchase of transport aircraft to serve the thousands of islands that make up the vast Southeast Asian nation.

"We would only focus on purchasing transport aircraft and patrol boats within 10 years," Sudarsono said after meeting with Vice President Jusuf Kalla. "The high tech jet fighters and submarines are very expensive and still beyond our capability."

He added that transport aircraft are the most strategic and efficient equipment for the deployment of troops, surveillance, patrol and rescue efforts in disaster areas.

Sudarsono said the government plans to allocate only about 30% of its defense budget to purchase spare parts for 21 Hercules C-130s, while the remaining 70% would be used to buy transport planes from domestic companies.

Washington lifted a six-year embargo on arms sales to Indonesia last month as a reward for Indonesia's cooperation in fighting terrorism.

The US, then Indonesia's largest supplier of weapons and military equipment, imposed the ban due to human rights concerns. That left many of the country's US-made aircraft grounded and forced Indonesia to look for other cheaper suppliers of military hardware.

In 2003, Indonesia bought four Sukhoi multi-role fighters from Russia, with 12 more expected to be delivered in 2007, while the navy is purchasing two corvettes from the Netherlands and has a deal with South Korea to buy diesel-electric submarines.