How about investigating PVD coatings (TiN/CrN/etc.)! Size of the component might be a limitation.

The coating must be elastic enough to absorb energy of impacts from debris.  We have tried Very Hard Tungstine Carbide matrixes the wore prematurely.

You are right that the coating must be capable of absorbing energy and currently available coatings and tapes are not satisfactory.Hence, we have developed a polymer based nano-composite coating for this application.

We are an R&D company developing specialized coatings for Navy and NASA. We have developed an erosion resistant coating designated as "AerocoatK", which is 25 to 50X better than HVOF carbide coatings depending on the angle of impingement. These coatings are also rain erosion resistant.

These are being evaluated for specific applications. If you are interested, we would be happy to work with you. You can visit oue website <www.asm-usa.com>; or e-mail me <kumar@asm-usa.com> for the data sheet.

Sivakumar, Phd
Research Scientist

Crown-Metro (or Courtualds/PRC/DeSoto/PPG or whatever they call themselves of late) used to make an anti-ablative coating called "Laminar 500". Very tough product used to harden leading edges against erosion. I've seen a company selling a "PM Research" style molded clear polyurethane anti-erosion strip approved for most metal props. Look in Trade-a-Plane.

Jimbo1490 can you please provide me with some more info.  I can not find this coating.  Trade-a-Plane required a subscription, which i dont have.

Two material I have found were:
NPE 2916 from 3M
535330A  from Miles, Inc