Japanese photojournalist Makoto Shinjou travels to the desert nation of Asran to document the mercenary pilots of Area 88. There, he meets Shin Kazama, a Japanese pilot duped into joining the squadron by a treacherous friend. Now Shin must serve out his three-year contract, earn $1.5 million US, or desert (and die).

This TV series is a remake of the three-episode 1985 OVA. In that version, Shin is also duped into joining the squadron at Area 88 and must fulfill a similar contract. Masochistic Greg Gates and avaricious McCoy are other characters in both series (at least, that\'s how the two were depicted in the older series). The OVA was published Stateside by Central Park Media.

Both series are based on the manga by Kaoru Shintani. It was published in the States by Eclipse Comics and later by Viz, though it is not currently in print.

The U.N. Squadron video games are loosely based on this series. In the SNES version, players take on the role of Shin, Greg, or Micky Simon, and fly missions to earn cash for better planes and weapons.