The media baron Elliot Carver plans to use an American GPS encoder stolen from an arms bazaar by his henchman, cyberterrorist Henry Gupta, to provoke war between China and the United Kingdom; he hopes to replace the Chinese government with one that will give him exclusive broadcasting rights. Meaconing the GPS signal using the encoder and one of the CMGN satellites, Gupta sends the British frigate HMS Devonshire off-course into Chinese-held waters in the South China Sea, where Carver's stealth ship, commanded by Mr. Stamper, sinks it and steals one of its missiles, while shooting down a Chinese J-7 fighter jet and killing off the Devonshire's survivors with Chinese weaponry.