A world nuclear disarmement treaty, proposed by the President of Russia and ratified by the U.N., is opposed by an old hard line Communist General. The General, who has military control of an area in central Russia, begins to fake the destruction of some of his missiles as the U.S. destroy's theirs. The Americans begin to suspect but can't prove what he is doing because he has developed equipment to blind the cameras in their new spy satellites when they are over his area. The Americans must race against time to launch a Discoverer, an obsolete spy satellite that is impervious to the General's jamming system. Attempts by the General's agents to prevent the launch of the Discoverer fail and the success of the mission hinges on the recovery of the Discoverer's film capsule after it reenters the atmosphere and is descending on its parachute over the Pacific. It then becomes a showdown between two pilots, a Russian and an American who have faced off many times before in world aerobatic championships. Good friends, neither knows who is flying the other nations plane until this competition, one that has the future of the world as its prize, is decided.