Dallastown, Pa. - A York County defense contractor is upset with the U.S. Army. Gichner Shelter Systems of Dallastown said the Army is spending millions of taxpayer dollars with an Israeli company instead of spending it here and keeping Americans on the job.

About 750 people work at Gichner Shelter systems at two York County locations. They make portable communications enclosures for the military that are designed to be lightweight and tough.

Government contracts are the lifeblood of Gichner. The company is questioning why a $16,000,000 contract from the Army is going overseas.

"The contract was awarded to an Israeli company," said Wayne Colbert of Gichner. "That's about 87 jobs that will be lost here. For any money to be spent from a DOD contract to a foreign supplier is just ridiculous."

Colbert said in the original proposal to build the shelters, the Army told interested suppliers that technical design would be more important than price. But he said the Army then decided to make price the deciding factor - after the proposals were already submitted.

Gichner is asking Sens. Arlen Specter and Bob Casey and Cong. Todd Platts of York County to do something about it. "We're asking them to take a look at this award and actually cancel it," Colbert said. "That's what I would like to see happen."

Platts' office said it just received a letter from the company about the contract. "We appreciate the seriousness of the issues raised by Gichner Shelter Systems and will be looking into this matter on their behalf," Platts said in a statement released by his office.

abc27 News was unable to contact anyone with the Israeli firm, Ramim Engineering.

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