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The South China Morning Post’s Stephen Chen reported on March 10, 2014 that Chinese scientists are developing specialized metal coatings that “turn away lasers or even reflect them back to their source.” This work is significant as directed energy weapons, like the laser recently tested on the USS Ponce, have been conceptualized as a key part of the US Navy’s future Air Sea Battle arsenal, notably by thinktanks like CSBA. Such coatings need only work at a minimal level to make anti-ship cruise and ballistic missiles more deadly against future shipboard laser defenses; even if it only slightly increases the amount of time needed to kill one missile, other high-speed missiles can slip through the defenses in that time.