Littoral combat is a term in military and naval warfare. It refers to operations in and around the littoral zone, within a certain distance of shore, including surveillance, mine-clearing and support for landing operations and other types of combat shifting from water to ground, and back.
The Littoral combat ship is being developed in a current U.S. Navy program to improve force maneuverability as well as to provide a platform for the deployment of small unmanned systems in littoral operations.