On opening day of the new baseball season, a small model kit airplane flies down from the stands and buzzes the mound, where a decorated veteran pilot is about to throw out the first ball. The toy plane is an exact replica of the one flown by the war hero. Everyone laughs, thinking it a good prank or a publicity stunt. Until it explodes, killing dozens.

Seconds later a swarm of killer drones descend upon the panicked crowd, each one carrying a powerful bomb. Halfway across the country a swarm of much larger drones slams into the Golden Gate Bridge, destroying one of the nation’s landmarks. When the debris is collected the forensics team make a frightening discovery. Each of the drones was developed and built by the U.S. military. The attacks escalate as a computer virus infects the autopilot of a commercial airline, effectively turning it into a drone. The resulting crash destroys an entire neighborhood. Two days later a squadron of F-15s is remote hijacked, and the resulting devastation leaves an entire Air Force base in flames. Someone has developed software that can turn any aircraft into a drone.

Joe Ledger and the DMS begin a desperate search for the secret to this new technology and the madmen behind it. But before they can close in on the enemy the virus infects Air Force One. The president is trapped aboard as the jet heads toward the heart of New York City. It has become PREDATOR ONE.