Indicate by check mark whether the registrant files or will file
annual reports under cover Form 20-F or Form 40-F.
Form 20-F ☒ Form 40-F ☐
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
EXHIBIT 99.1

DEFSEC Technologies Inc. Provides Corporate Update
| • | Business Development Strategy to Support Accelerated Growth for ARWEN |
| • | Increased Presence at Industry Conferences |
OTTAWA, ON, Oct. 20, 2026 /CNW/ - DEFSEC Technologies
Inc. (TSXV: DFSC) (DFSC.WT.U) (NASDAQ: DFSC) (NASDAQ: DFSCW) ("DEFSEC" or the "Company") today
provided a corporate update covering preliminary year-end cash and cash equivalents, product developments, business development strategy,
and upcoming industry conference participation.
Preliminary Year-End Cash Position
As at September 30, 2026, the Company's balance sheet
continues to be well-capitalized for fiscal 2027 with preliminary unaudited cash and cash equivalents of approximately $7.7 million and
$0 debt, compared to $3.5 million cash and $0 debt as at June 30, 2026. The change reflects net proceeds from the August 2026 equity offering
net of operating activities during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026.
As of today, the Company has 4,593,998 common shares
outstanding and 24,575 pre-funded warrants remaining to be converted.
Product Developments
Recent demonstrations of Battlespace Laser Identification
Sensor System (BLISS) pre-production units at Dugway Proving Ground, Utah was completed in August, providing a valuable opportunity to
demonstrate laser-detection performance at distance and across a broad spectrum to the U.S. Army.
Business Development Strategy
ARWEN® has an established customer
base of law enforcement and corrections agencies across North America. The Company is executing a business development strategy designed
to grow ARWEN sales within this base, reach new agencies, and use those relationships to introduce its broader public safety portfolio.
The Company is allocating additional commercial resources
to strengthen sales capabilities, deepen existing customer relationships and accelerate revenue growth. This includes the hiring of senior
resources in business development and marketing.
The Company's priority is to grow and nurture its
existing ARWEN customer base. The commercial release of ARWEN 40mm baton ammunition, now in full-rate production for use with third-party
40mm launchers, extends the Company's addressable market to agencies that do not currently operate ARWEN launchers. DEFSEC supports this
with hands-on range demonstrations for agencies to shorten the path from first look to evaluation and procurement. The Company also actively
pursues public procurement opportunities, including through CanadaBuys.
A stronger ARWEN customer relationship base also provides
a direct channel for cross-selling the Company's newer public safety offerings, including PARA SHOT™ and DEFSEC Lightning™
2.0.
Industry Conference Participation
DEFSEC maintains an active industry conference schedule
in support of its business development strategy. This week, the Company is exhibiting at Best Defence in London, Ontario, which serves
the military and defence community, and at Real Time Crime Centre Ops & Tech West in Edmonton, Alberta, which serves law enforcement.
In fiscal 2026, DEFSEC attended Best Defence (London,
ON), SHOT Show (Las Vegas, NV), OTAB (Collingwood, ON), CANSEC (Ottawa, ON), where it demonstrated BLISS, and the NTOA Law Enforcement
Operators Conference (Nashville, TN). Earlier this month, the Company attended the AUSA Annual Meeting & Exposition in Washington,
DC.
Upcoming, DEFSEC will attend the Police Tech Conference
and Expo in Toronto, Ontario (December 2026) and SHOT Show in Las Vegas, Nevada (January 2027) as well as participating in Army Day on
the Hill (December 2026). Since October 2025, DEFSEC has attended six industry events across Canada and the United States, with five more
underway or scheduled through January 2027.
About DEFSEC
DEFSEC (TSXV: DFSC) (TSXV: DFSC.WT.U) (NASDAQ: DFSC)
(NASDAQ: DFSCSW) (FSE: 62UA) develops and commercializes breakthrough next-generation tactical systems for military and security forces.
The Company's current portfolio of offerings includes digitization of tactical forces for real-time shared situational awareness and targeting
information from any source (including drones) streamed directly to users' smart devices and weapons. Other DEFSEC products include countermeasures
against threats such as electronic detection, lasers and drones. These systems can operate stand-alone or integrate seamlessly with OEM
products and battlefield management systems, and all come integrated with TAK. The Company also has the established ARWEN®
less-lethal munitions platform and a new proprietary less-lethal product line branded PARA SHOT™ with applications
across all segments of the less-lethal market, including law enforcement. The Company is headquartered in Ottawa, Canada.
For more information, please visit https://www.defsectec.com
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains "forward-looking
statements" and "forward-looking information" within the meaning of Canadian and United States securities laws (collectively,
"forward-looking statements"), which may be identified by the use of terms and phrases such as "may", "would",
"should", "could", "expect", "intend", "estimate", "anticipate", "plan",
"foresee", "have sight of", "believe", or "continue", the description of "optimism",
"momentum" or "interest", the negative of these terms and similar terminology, including references to assumptions,
although not all forward-looking statements contain these terms and phrases. Forward-looking statements are provided for the purpose of
assisting the reader in understanding us, our business, operations, prospects and risks at a point in time in the context of historical
and possible future developments and therefore the reader is cautioned that such information may not be appropriate for other purposes.
Such forward-looking statements are based on the current expectations of DEFSEC's management and are based on assumptions and subject
to risks and uncertainties that are documented in detail in the Company's public filings. Forward-looking statements included in this
include, but are not limited to: management's belief of sufficiency of available financial resources to support forecasted activities
in 2026 based on cash on hand, anticipated revenue streams and planned expenditures in the fiscal year, subject to execution of the Company's
operating plan and other risks and factors described in its public filings; interest in DEFSEC Lightning™ 2.0 or other
products and services as well as timing of full implementation, subscription uptake or commercial release thereof; the Company's estimates
of program billings on an annualized go-forward basis and increases to annualized gross margin on a go-forward basis and extent thereof,
if any; the outcome and timing of test and evaluation activities for BLISS™ at United States Army Test Centers or other
locations and whether such activities result in follow-on orders; the ability to sustain full-rate production of, and demand for, ARWEN®
40mm baton ammunition; the stage of scaled production for the PARA SHOT™ technology into new training cartridges and
timing of release thereof; the intended use of net proceeds from the 2026 registered direct offerings and concurrent private placement
and whether all of the respectover warrants are exercised; and management's belief that its customer base of law enforcement agencies
for ARWEN® throughout North America is a ready market for its new products like PARA SHOT™ as well as
DEFSEC Lightning™.
Although DEFSEC's management believes that the
assumptions underlying such forward-looking statements are reasonable, they may prove to be incorrect. The forward-looking statements
discussed in this news release may not occur by certain specified dates or at all and could differ materially as a result of known and
unknown risk factors and uncertainties affecting DEFSEC, including DEFSEC's inability to execute on its current operating plan and/or
forecasted activities, DEFSEC's inability to secure contracts and subcontracts (on the timelines, size and scale expected or at all),
statements of work and orders for its products for reasons beyond its control, the renewal or extension of agreements beyond their original
term, the granting of patents applied for by DEFSEC, inability to finance the scale up to full commercial production levels for its physical
products, inability to secure key partnership agreements to facilitate the outsourcing and logistics for its ARWEN® and
PARA SHOT™ products, inability to commercialize DEFSEC's Battlespace Laser Identification Sensor System (BLISS™),
inability to secure or complete the execution of government contracts, inability to drive growth in DEFSEC's ARWEN® product
line, inability to advance the commercialization of DEFSEC's PARA SHOT™ products, delay or inability to grow subscriptions
for DEFSEC's Lightning™ 2.0 SaaS offering, lower than expected or delayed demand for DEFSEC's BLISS™,
overall interest in DEFSEC's products being lower than anticipated or expected; general economic and stock market conditions; a stagnation
or decrease in North American defence and public safety spending, adverse industry events; future legislative and regulatory developments
in Canada, the United States and elsewhere, including changes to the continued listing requirements of the Nasdaq Capital Market and the
TSX Venture Exchange; the inability of DEFSEC to implement and execute its business strategies; the Company's ability to raise additional
capital when required and on acceptable terms; risks and uncertainties detailed from time to time in DEFSEC's filings with the Canadian
Security Administrators and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, and many other factors beyond the control of DEFSEC.
Although DEFSEC has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from
those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results to differ from those anticipated,
estimated or intended. Except as required by applicable securities laws, forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which
they are made and DEFSEC undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of
new information, future events or otherwise.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its respective
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.
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SOURCE DEFSEC Technologies Inc
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%CIK: 0001889823
For further information: Sean Homuth, President and Chief Executive
Officer, homuth@defsectec.com, (613) 863-1255; Jennifer Welsh, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Compliance Officer, welsh@defsectec.com,
(613) 241-1849 EXT 102; Harry Webster, Chief Operating Officer, webster@defsectec.com
CO: DEFSEC Technologies Inc
CNW 06:00e 20-OCT-26