A bipartisan group of Armed Services lawmakers from shipbuilding states told a congressionally chartered panel Wednesday that U.S. warship construction must grow, and so too must less obvious areas of the Navy budget.

Lawmakers, industry officials and experts convened today at the inaugural hearing for the National Commission on the Future of the Navy, three years after Congress established the group in the Fiscal Year 2023 National Defense Authorization Act . The commission — made up of members nominated by congressional leaders — aims to gather testimony from experts and submit a report to Congress by July 2027 detailing its ideas and goals to improve the state of domestic shipbuilding and the naval…