Lithium-ion battery technology is a critical enabler for the U.S. Navy to meet its operational energy requirements and climate action goals. However, safety concerns associated with lithium-based battery chemistries have limited their adoption. This talk will highlight the research efforts of the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) to identify the underpinnings of chemical and electrochemical instability in advanced battery systems and the development of spectroscopic diagnostic techniques to identify safety concerns before a failure. Specifically, data collected through combined electrochemical and spectroscopic techniques (XPS, computed tomography, XRD, X-ray absorption, etc.) will be presented. Thermo-electrochemical coupling concepts, derived from physical metallurgy, will be introduced to help describe the stochasticity and latency of safety events in lithium-based battery systems, Fig. 1. Additionally, efforts to develop supply chain-resilient battery materials and chemistries will be discussed as well as the Navy and Department of Defense involvement in the newly established Federal Consortium for Advanced Batteries (FCAB). Opportunities for research engagement with NRL and the Office of Naval Research will also be discussed.