RAF Waddington

RAF Waddington
Near Waddington, Lincolnshire in England
The RAF's first Boeing RC-135W Rivet Joint arrives at RAF Waddington in November 2013
For Faith and Freedom[1]
RAF Waddington is located in Lincolnshire
RAF Waddington
RAF Waddington
Shown within Lincolnshire
Coordinates53°10′21″N 0°31′51″W / 53.17250°N 0.53083°W / 53.17250; -0.53083
TypeMain operating base
Area391 hectares (970 acres)[2]
Site information
OwnerMinistry of Defence
OperatorRoyal Air Force
Controlled byNo. 1 Group (Air Combat)
Conditionoperational
WebsiteOfficial website Edit this at Wikidata
Site history
Built1916; 108 years ago (1916)
In use
  • 1916–1920
  • 1937 – present
Garrison information
Current
commander		Group Captain Dominic Holland[3]
Occupants See Based units section for full list.
Airfield information
IdentifiersIATA: WTN, ICAO: EGXW, WMO: 03377
Elevation70.1 metres (230 ft) AMSL
Runways
Direction Length and surface
02/20 2,939 metres (9,642 ft) blacktop asphalt
Source: RAF Waddington Defence Aerodrome Manual[4]

Royal Air Force Waddington (IATA: WTN, ICAO: EGXW), commonly known as RAF Waddington, and informally known by its nickname 'Waddo'[5] is a Royal Air Force station located beside the village of Waddington, 4.2 miles (6.8 kilometres) south of Lincoln, Lincolnshire, in England.

The station is the RAF's Intelligence Surveillance Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance (ISTAR) hub. It is home to a fleet of aircraft composed of the Beechcraft Shadow R1, Boeing RC-135W Rivet Joint, and General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper remotely piloted aircraft. Since October 2022, it has also been home to the RAF's Aerobatic Team the Red Arrows.

  1. ^ Pine, L.G. (1983). A dictionary of mottoes (1 ed.). London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. p. 72. ISBN 0-7100-9339-X.
  2. ^ "Defence Estates Development Plan 2009 – Annex A". GOV.UK. Ministry of Defence. 3 July 2009. p. 18. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Dutch was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ "RAF Waddington Defence Aerodrome Manual (DAM)" (PDF). RAF Waddington. Military Aviation Authority. 13 February 2017. Retrieved 27 August 2017.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference WaddoFC was invoked but never defined (see the help page).