02/24/2021

Experienced defence company executive will also serve as Corporate Secretary

February 24^TH, 2021 – Ottawa – KWESST Micro Systems Inc. (TSXV: KWE and OTCQB: KWEMF) (“KWESST” or “the Company”) is pleased to announce that Elisabeth Preston has joined the Company as a member of the board of directors and will also serve as the Company’s Corporate Secretary.

David Luxton, Executive Chairman of KWESST, said “The entire board extends a very warm welcome to Elisabeth.  We are all well acquainted with her by reputation, and I have had the pleasure of working with her directly in other high-growth defence industry ventures where she was a valued colleague and demonstrated an exceptional breadth of knowledge and skills.”

Elisabeth Preston is Chief Legal Counsel for a top tier international defence company with widespread global operations.  She is an international business and trade lawyer, with significant transactional experience in many jurisdictions.  Her experience spans more than thirty years advising companies as an executive in areas relating to governance, cross-border marketing, strategic relationships, major commercial transactions and financings to fund growth.  She has assisted companies to pursue and secure major contracts and to resolve complex international agreements.  Elisabeth has worked intensively in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, procurement law, anti-corruption compliance, industrial security, export control and controlled goods as well as labour and employment law.  She has also frequently acted as counsel on security-sensitive issues and is one of Canada’s top authorities on ITAR regulations and compliance in the defence industry.

Elisabeth’s practice has also included advising public companies as Chief Legal Officer, General Counsel and in private practice.  She has taken several client companies public, and has deep knowledge of the investment banking community, investor relations guidance and public company disclosure and best practices in continuous disclosure.  She was also previously the Managing Partner of a major Canadian law firm’s busy Ottawa office.

Elisabeth has a Bachelor of Arts in History (honors) from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, a Masters of Public Administration (Public Management and Policy) from the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, and a law degree (LLB) from the Faculty of Law at McGill University in Montreal Canada.  She is Past Co-Chair of the American Bar Association, International Section’s Defense and Aerospace Committee and former Vice-Chair of its Anti-Corruption Committee, and is continuously in demand as a speaker on topics of interest to in-house counsel of global enterprises. Elisabeth was granted 300,000 stock options exercisable at a price of $1.78 per share on or before February 23, 2026.  

About KWESST 

KWESST develops and commercializes high-value ultra-miniaturized technology applications that make a critical difference to the safety and operational effectiveness of personnel in the defence and security industries. The company’s current portfolio of unique proprietary offerings include: its signature TASCS^TM (Tactical Awareness and Situational Control System) for real-time awareness and targeting information from any source (including drones) streamed directly to users’ smart devices and weapons; the autonomous GreyGhost^TM soldier-portable micro drone missile system that defends against small hostile drones including swarms using high-speed kinetic impact; a Ground Laser Defence system to counter the emerging threat of weaponized lasers against personnel; and, the Phantom^TM  electronic battlefield decoy system to mask the electromagnetic signature of friendly forces with decoy signatures at false locations to deceive and confuse adversaries.  All systems can operate stand-alone or integrate seamlessly with OEM products and battlefield management systems including  Frontline, Edge, Killswitch  and ATAK (Android Tactical Assault Kit) among others. KWESST also has developmental “smart ordnance” projects including its “Shot Counter” system, which records the number and type of rounds fired, for optimized firearms maintenance and performance. The Company is headquartered in Ottawa, Canada, with representative offices in Washington, DC, London, UK and Abu Dhabi, UAE. KWESST trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol KWE and on the U.S. OTCQB under the symbol KWEMF. 

Contact:  Jason Frame, Investor Relations: frame@kwesst.com 

For more information, please visit https://www.kwesst.com/  

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements 

This news release includes certain “forward-looking statements” under applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to the timing for the commencement of trading and the plans and operations of KWESST after giving effect to the Qualifying Transaction. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results and future events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to: general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. KWESST disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. 

 Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.