M4 carbine in the context of Heckler

A carbine (/ˈkɑːrbiːn/ KAR-been or /ˈkɑːrbaɪn/ KAR-byn) is a long gun that has a barrel shortened from its original length. Most modern carbines are rifles that are compact versions of a longer rifle or are rifles chambered for less powerful cartridges.

The smaller size and lighter weight of carbines make them easier to handle. They are typically issued to high-mobility troops such as special operations soldiers and paratroopers, as well as to mounted, artillery, logistics, or other non-infantry personnel whose roles do not require full-sized rifles, although there is a growing tendency for carbines to be issued to front-line soldiers to offset the increasing weight of other issued equipment. An example of this is the M4 carbine, the standard issue carbine of the United States Armed Forces.

A fireteam or fire team is a small modern military subordinated element of infantry designed to optimize "NCO initiative", "combined arms", "bounding overwatch" and "fire and movement" tactical doctrine in combat. Depending on mission requirements, a typical "standard" fireteam consists of four or fewer members: an automatic rifleman, a grenadier, a rifleman, and a designated fireteam leader. The role of each fireteam leader is to ensure that the fireteam operates as a cohesive unit. Two or three fireteams are organized into a section or squad in co-ordinated operations, which is led by a squad leader.

Historically, militaries with strong reliance and emphasis on decentralized NCO-corp institutions and effective "bottom-up" fireteam organization command structures have had significantly better combat performance from their infantry units in comparison to militaries limited to officer-reliant operations, traditionally larger units lacking NCO-leadership and "top-down" centralized-command structures. Fireteam organization addresses the realities of 21st-century warfare where combat is getting exponentially faster and more lethal as it identifies and removes anything which slows down the reaction time between first detection of an enemy and rounds impacted.

The 2025 Pahalgam attack, also referred to as the 2025 Pahalgam massacre, was an Islamist terrorist attack on tourists by at least three armed terrorists near Pahalgam in India's Jammu and Kashmir in which 26 civilians were killed on 22 April 2025. The militants targeted Hindu tourists, though a Christian tourist and a local Muslim pony ride operator were also killed. The attackers, armed with M4 carbines and AK-47s, entered the Baisaran Valley, a famous tourist spot, through the surrounding forests. This incident is considered the deadliest attack on civilians in India since the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

The Resistance Front (TRF), a proxy of the Pakistan-based Islamist UN-designated terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), initially claimed responsibility for the attack twice, on both the day of the attack and the next day. TRF released a statement that the attack was in opposition to non-local settlement in the region resulting from the abolition of the special status of Kashmir. After a few days, TRF denied its involvement in the attack. Previously, TRF has claimed responsibility for several attacks in Indian-administered Kashmir targeting religious minorities.

The Beta C-Mag is a 100-round capacity drum magazine manufactured by the Beta Company. It was designed by Jim Sullivan and first patented in 1987 and has been adapted for use in numerous firearms firing the 5.56×45mm NATO, 7.62×51mm NATO, and 9×19mm Parabellum cartridges. C-Mag is short for century magazine (The letter C is also the Roman numeral for the number 100), referring to its 100-round capacity. It has two drum units, each of which hold half of the cartridges inserted into the magazine. The latest version of the magazine is available with a transparent backing to allow the user to see the number of rounds remaining in the magazine. A C-Mag loaded with 5.56×45mm NATO ammunition typically weighs about 2.1 kg (4.63 lb); a C-Mag loaded with 7.62×51mm NATO ammunition weighs 4.77 kg (10.5 lb).

A version adapted for the M16 rifle is used by the U.S. military. The magazine design, including drawings, is covered in detail in U.S. patent 4,658,700.

The Heckler & Koch HK416 is an assault rifle chambered for the 5.56×45mm NATO cartridge, designed and manufactured by the German company Heckler & Koch. Although the design is based on the selective fire M16 class of firearm (specifically the Colt M4 carbine family issued to the U.S. military), it uses a proprietary short-stroke gas piston system from the Heckler & Koch G36 family of rifles.

The HK416 has been adopted by various military forces and is used by many special operations units worldwide. The Norwegian Armed Forces had adopted the HK416N as their standard issue rifle in 2008. The United States Marine Corps has adopted a modified variant, designated as the M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle to replace the M249 SAW, and eventually also the M16A4, M4 and M4A1. The HK416F has been selected by the French Armed Forces to replace the FAMAS in 2017. The HK416 A5 is in service with the Irish Army Ranger Wing. The German Army had adopted a variant of the HK416, designated as the G95A1 to replace the Heckler & Koch G36 as their standard issue service rifle.