TOKYO — Japan's Cabinet approved on Friday a record 8.7-trillion-yen ($55-billion) defense budget for 2025 as the country accelerates building up its strike-back capability and starts deploying Tomahawks to fortify itself against growing threats from China, North Korea and Russia.

The Cabinet-endorsed draft defense budget marks the third year of Japan's ongoing five-year military buildup under the national security strategy it adopted in 2022. The defense spending is part of the more than 115-trillion-yen ($730 billion) national budget bill — also a record — that requires parliamentary approval by March to be enacted.