On America's newest combat base, U.S. Air Force aerial warfare expert Major General Patrick McLanahan and his crew of daring engineers are devising the air combat unit of the future. Air Battle Force can launch concentrated, stealthy, precision-guided firepower to any spot on the globe within hours. And soon, McLanahan and his warriors will have their first target: Taliban fighters who are planning to invade the neighboring oil-rich Republic of Turkmenistan. Now, it's up to McLanahan and a handful of American commandos half a world away, aided by an untested and unproven force of robotic warplanes, to win a war in which everyone - even "friendly" forces at home - want them to fail.