A titanium-based composite coating reinforced by in situ synthesized TiB whiskers and TiC particles was successfully fabricated on Ti6Al4V by laser cladding. The coating is mainly composed of alpha-Ti cellular dendrites and a eutectic in which a large number of needle-shaped TiB whiskers and a few equiaxial TiC particles are uniformly embedded. The wear resistance of the coating is significantly superior to that of Ti6Al4V under the dry sliding wear condition at room temperature. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.