General Jack D. Ripper, the delusional commander of a US Air Force base, initiates a plan to attack the Soviet Union with nuclear weapons, even though there is no immediate threat. Group Captain Lionel Mandrake, an RAF exchange officer serving as General Ripper's executive officer, realizes that there has been no attack on the U.S and reveals this to Ripper. When Ripper refuses to cooperate, Mandrake announces that he will issue the recall on his own authority, but Ripper refuses to disclose the three-letter code necessary for recalling the bombers and locks the two of them in his office.