Senators: Air Force skewed data on A-10

Senators said a recent watchdog report showing that the Pentagon skewed statistics on the A-10 Thunderbolt’s performance in Afghanistan seemed to be deliberately cherry-picked to support the retirement of the aircraft, and they pledged to defend the program in this year’s budget request.

The Project on Government Oversight on Monday reported that based on its analysis, the Air Force skewed the numbers of civilian deaths caused by the various aircraft used in Afghanistan to make the A-10 look worse by limiting the data to 2010 and beyond – omitting a 2009 incident in which a B-1 dropped ordinance on a civilian population in Granai, killing almost 100 people.