Iran says its first fighter-bomber is under production
     TEHRAN, Iran - September 28, 1997 10:09 p.m. EDT -- Iran has
 started mass-producing its first domestically designed fighter-
 bomber, it announced Sunday. State-run Tehran television showed a
 brief video of the Azarakhsh jet in flight.
     During military maneuvers completed Sunday, the plane dropped
 two 250-pound napalm bombs on a mock enemy target, Maj. Gen. Ali
 Shahbazi, the joint chief of staff, said in comments broadcast by
 Tehran TV.
     The plane took 11 years to build and is one-eighth the cost per
 copy of similar foreign-made aircraft, the official Islamic Republic
 News Agency said.
     Iran claims it is nearly self-sufficient in arms. Since 1992,
 it has unveiled its own tanks, armored personnel carriers and
 missiles.
     IRNA said 200,000 troops using live ammunition took part in the
 war games that ended Sunday.  They were among the many large-scale
 military exercises that Iran conducts each year.
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