Japan decided Tuesday to pursue the deployment of aircraft carriers for the first time since the end of World War II and beef up its defense in new domains of warfare, such as cyberspace, under its new 10-year defense policy.

The latest national defense guidelines, which will enable Japan to modify helicopter carriers so they can launch U.S.-made F-35B fighter jets, were adopted as the government sees the security environment as increasing in uncertainty amid China's expanding military activities and rapid advances in technology.

"We need to develop truly effective defense abilities, rather than simply expanding traditional ones," the government said in the policy, which covers a period from fiscal 2019 and is endorsed by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Cabinet. The policy was last updated in 2013.