Royal Air Force Waddinton is presently home to the RAF's Sentry, Nimrod R1 and Raytheon Sentinel R1 ASTOR ground-surveillance/intelligence aircraft. The station is also home to No. 34 Expeditionary Air Wing.
There is an outdoor viewing area east of the A15 road close to the northern end of the long runway which was designed to accommodate V-bombers. Short-term visits from different NATO and Swiss fighter squadrons, in the past, used to generate occasional additional noise and interest because the airfield was conveniently placed for offshore practice firing ranges above the North Sea. However with the closure of the aforementioned Air Combat Manoeuvring Instrumentation range these visits have ceased. Waddington also has a very active Force Development ethos, putting emphasis on the development of its busy personnel.
No. 34 Expeditionary Air Wing was formed at Waddington on 1 April 2006 encompassing most of the non-formed unit personnel on station. The EAW does not include the flying units at the station. The station commander is dual-hatted as the commander of the wing.
The RAF Waddington structure as of April 2008 is as follows:
- 34 Expeditionary Air Wing
- Combat Support 2 Group
- No. 5 (Army Co-operation) Sqn - ASTOR/Sentinel R1
- No. 8 Sqn - E-3 Sentry No. 23 Sqn - Sentry
- No. 51 Sqn - Nimrod R1
- No. 54 (Reserve) Sqn - Intelligence Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance (ISTAR) Operational Conversation Unit
- No. 56 (Reserve) Sqn - Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance Operational Evaluation Unit (ISTAR OEU)
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