Allen Vanguard announces $10 million in contract awards for Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) equipment

Allen-Vanguard Corporation (the "Company" or "Allen-Vanguard") (TSX: VRS) of Ottawa, Canada today announced that it received $10 million in contract awards for EOD equipment in the past week, including $6 million from the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) for Iraq and $4 million from Brazil and Eastern European customers. All amounts are in Canadian dollars at prevailing exchange rate.

"We are seeing a pronounced increase in activity for EOD equipment requirements, driven by a combination of heightened IED threats in many countries and by equipment attrition in theatres of conflict and stockpiling of leave-behind equipment as U.S. troops draw down in Iraq," said David E. Luxton, President and CEO.

"We are also seeing a significant increase in demand for integrated packages of our equipment, reflecting the kind of synergy we expected from our acquisitions."

The Company also provided an update on backlog and market conditions, and reminded investors of the Special and Annual General Meeting of Shareholders today at 2pm in Ottawa.

"We are pleased at the general increase in market activity for our products and services, and that our sales pipeline has increased and our backlog remains strong at approximately $100 million," said Mr. Luxton. "At the same time we are acutely attuned to operating risks in this extraordinary environment. We are monitoring market conditions very closely to be able to adjust to evolving developments, both downside and upside. Very recently we have seen some downside in the U.S. military jammer market, with DoD clearly favoring large, established domestic suppliers, which is causing us to re-evaluate our strategy there regarding Chameleon jammers. At the same time, foreign requirements for Symphony jammers for foreign Partner and Coalition forces are increasing, with upside that can offset the downside to Chameleon provided that order flow is timely."

The Company noted that explicit buy-America provisions have appeared in procurement solicitations at the state and local level in some industries, as has been widely reported in the media. Allen-Vanguard mitigates this risk by manufacturing almost all of its products for U.S. customers in the U.S. "This is often sufficient, but not always," said Mr. Luxton.

In international markets the Company has seen the pace of activity for its products and services picking up noticeably in Latin America, parts of SE Asia, the Gulf States and in Europe. "There is significant new activity in these markets across all our product lines," added Mr. Luxton. "This includes jammers, but also our EOD products and services, and it is our stated plan to grow our business in other markets to reduce our legacy customer concentration in the U.S."

The Company reminded investors that its Special and Annual General Meeting of Shareholders takes place today at 2pm at the Hilton Garden Inn Ottawa Airport, 2400 Alert Rd., Ottawa, Ontario.

Forward looking statements

This press release may contain forward-looking statements, which reflect Allen-Vanguard and Tailwind Financial Inc's current expectations regarding future events, strategy, expected performance and condition. Forward-looking statements include statements that are predictive in nature, that depend upon or refer to future events or conditions, or that include words such as "expects," "anticipates," "plans," "believes," "estimates" or negative versions thereof and similar expressions including the completion of the transaction, the expected benefits of the transaction and the completion of the Rights Offering. In addition, any statement that may be made concerning future performance, strategies or prospects, and possible future acquisitions or dispositions, is also a forward-looking statement. Forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and projections about future events and are inherently subject to, among other things, risks, uncertainties and assumptions about the parties and economic factors. Forward-looking statements are not promises or guarantees of future performance, and actual events and results could differ materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements made about Allen-Vanguard or Tailwind. Any number of important factors could contribute to these digressions, including, but not limited to, general economic, political and market factors in North America and internationally, interest and foreign exchange rates, global equity and capital markets, business competition, technological change, changes in government regulations, unexpected judicial or regulatory proceedings, and catastrophic events. We stress that the above-mentioned list of important factors is not exhaustive. We encourage you to consider these and other factors carefully before making any investment decision and we urge you to avoid placing undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Further, you should be aware that Allen-Vanguard and Tailwind disclaim any obligation to publicly update or revise any such forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, prior to the release of the next Management Discussion and Analysis to be released by each of Allen-Vanguard and Tailwind or except as required by law.

Any statements contained in this press release that do not describe historical facts may constitute forward-looking statements as that term is defined by the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any such forward-looking statements contained herein are based on current expectations, but are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from expectations such as material adverse events affecting Allen-Vanguard and/or Tailwind, the ability of Tailwind to satisfy the conditions to completion of the business combination and those other risks and uncertainties detailed in Tailwind's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

About Allen-Vanguard

Allen-Vanguard Corporation supports the mission of military and homeland security forces around the world with leading proprietary solutions for protection and counter-measures against hazardous devices of all kinds, whether chemical, biological, radiological or explosive (CBRNE), including improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and remotely controlled IEDs (RCIEDs). Allen-Vanguard equipment is in service in more than 120 countries. Products include Electronic Counter-Measures ("ECM") equipment for jamming remote detonation of terrorist devices, specialty security equipment for Explosive Ordnance Disposal ("EOD"), remote intervention robots for hazardous applications, and personal protective wear for use in dealing with explosive and bio-chemical agents. Allen-Vanguard is the developer and/or sole, worldwide licensee of proprietary technologies such as the Med-Eng bomb suit, the DefenderTM and VanguardTM Mk2 bomb disposal robots, and the Universal Containment System and CASCAD Foam system for blast mitigation and decontamination of bio-chemical warfare agents. Professional services encompass counter-IED intelligence, training and advisory services, including the TritonTM Report on terrorist incidents around the world. The Company operates globally through its wholly-owned subsidiaries under the names "Allen-Vanguard", "Med-Eng" and "Hazard Management Solutions". Head office operations are located in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, with manufacturing operations in Stoney Creek and Pembroke, Ontario; Ogdensburg, New York; Tewkesbury, U.K.; and Cork, Ireland; The Company has professional services operations in Shrivenham, UK, Canada and in the U.S. in Arlington, Virginia, plus sales offices in Canada, the U.S., the U.K. and Asia. Allen-Vanguard's shares are listed on The Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) under the symbol "VRS".

To learn more about Allen-Vanguard Corporation (TSX: VRS), visit www.allenvanguard.com.

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SOURCE: ALLEN-VANGUARD CORPORATION

Allen-Vanguard Corporation, Robin Sundstrom, (647) 822-8111, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.