U.S., IRAQI JETS CLASH.(MAIN)

Byline: PHILIP SHENON New York Times

WASHINGTON -- In the first confrontation between American and Iraqi jet fighters in more than six years, American warplanes on Tuesday fired on -- but missed -- Iraqi jets that were reported to have penetrated the no-fly zone over southern Iraq.

The U.S. jets fired six air-to-air missiles in two separate clashes that occurred about 15 minutes and 60 miles apart, Defense Department officials said.

In the first incident, two Air Force F-15 jets fired their missiles after Iraqi MiG jets latched onto them with radar but did not fire, the officials said. In the second, they said, two Navy F-14 jets from the carrier Carl Vinson fired on Iraqi MiG's …