Nearly 30 percent, or 30 billion dollars, will go to acquiring submarines, while the rest will buy anti-submarine vessels, patrol ships, fast attack craft and amphibious vessels, organisers of the IMDEX Asia 2007 maritime defence show said.

Regional countries are expected to acquire a total of 841 vessels by 2016, they said.

Of these, 83 will be submarines, with the most orders coming from emerging Asian power China. This would include five nuclear-powered missile submarines and 30 attack submarines to add to its current fleet, figures released by the organisers showed.

Senior US officials have spoken critically of China's military budget, expressing concerns that the Chinese are under-reporting the size of their spending and that it is expanding too quickly.

China announced in March a 17.8 percent rise in military spending for this year to 45 billion dollars.

"The projected 108 billion US dollar expenditure makes the region the number one market for naval procurement over the next decade," said Roger Marriott, managing director of IMDEX Asia, the region's biggest maritime defence show.

Projected naval spending for the United States over the next decade is at a slower 105 billion dollars, and 99 billion dollars for Europe, he said.

"Of this investment figure (for Asia Pacific), 84 billion dollars will go towards the acquisition of submarines and vessels with anti-submarine warfare capabilities," Marriott told journalists on the eve of the four day exhibition and conference.

He said construction programmes are underway to build the 83 submarines ordered by China, South Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, India, Pakistan, Indonesia and Taiwan.

To counter the submarine threat, 14 countries have embarked on programmes to acquire a total of 151 vessels capable of anti-submarine warfare, Marriott said.

More than 80 amphibious vessels are also expected to be purchased during the period.

That reflects Asia's realisation after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that the region lacked ships that can be used for humanitarian relief efforts, said Pietre Lindahl, an analyst with US-based naval consultancy AMI International.

The tsunami left more than 168,000 dead or missing in Indonesia alone, and the bulk of the humanitarian effort was shouldered by the United States and other major powers.

Lindahl said the submarine acquisitions show that operating and maintaining an undersea fleet is no longer just the domain of major world powers.

The increase in the submarine fleets should also lead to a rise in the need for frigates, corvettes and patrol vessels, especially those capable of carrying aircraft with anti-submarine capabilities.

But Lindahl said the region, in general, was not going through an arms race.

Many countries have reached a level of economic development in which they can now afford to buy their naval defence requirements, not necessarily to compete or catch up with a neighbouring country.

"'Arms race' is an overused term for this region," he told AFP.

"Certainly, there are areas in the Asian region where you wonder if there's an arms race, particularly between countries. But in general, I would say no," he said.

He added that the strengthening of regional navies could impact the regional geopolitical balance and erode US military influence.

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