Lt. Chris Burnett, a fighter navigator aboard the U.S.S. Carl Vinson, is frustrated with the strict "hands-off" political policies that prevent him from experiencing combat against hostile Bosnian forces in his F/A-18 Superhornet jet. Burnett's commander, Admiral Reigert, thinks that the brash pilot does not have what it takes to be in the military, but the eager young officer soon gets the chance to prove his mettle. On Christmas day he is assigned to conduct a routine photographic reconnaissance over a remote area of the Balkans. He talks pilot Stackhouse into flying slightly off-course to check out an interesting target. Just when Burnett captures grisly images that serve as proof of genocidal crimes, the two get hit by an anti-aircraft missile and have to get out of their plane. On the ground Burnett is soon alone and pursued by the forces of Lokar, a Serbian paramilitary leader intent on covering up unthinkable crimes, while Reigert defies the NATO orders of his superior and risks his career to mount a covert rescue mission.