The UK’s Royal Air Force (RAF) has opened the flight and training centre at RAF Waddington for its Protector RG Mk1 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) operators, the service announced on 7 July 2025.
The centre, known as the Oxspring Building, was officially opened in a ceremony hosted by Air Officer Commanding 1 Group Air Vice-Marshal Mark Jackson.
The Protector RG1 – the first UAV certified to fly in all classes of UK airspace – was declared operational with the RAF on 16 June 2025.
The Protector training centre, which houses ground control stations, live and synthetic training systems and training areas for the RAF’s Protector operators, is operated by 54 Squadron as the RAF’s the Advanced Air ISTAR Academy, which delivers over 30 multi-skilled courses for the RAF’s current and future intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance (ISTAR) platforms.
The building also hosts elements of NATO’s Flight Training Europe (NFTE) campus: one of NATO’s High Visibility Projects to ensure that the Alliance can train aircrews to meet the security challenges both today and in the future.
“The opening of The Oxspring NFTE Campus is an example of utilising training capacity to meet shared defence priorities and enhance interoperability between Nations,” the RAF stated in a press release. NFTE is being executed through the NATO Support and Procurement Agency NFTE Support Partnership, which currently has 17 member nations across NATO.
The Protector RG1, which has a wingspan of 24 m, an endurance of more than 30 hours and can be armed with 500 lb (227 kg) Paveway IV laser-guided bombs and Brimstone 3 missiles, is based on the General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc (GA-ASI) MQ-9B SkyGuardian UAV.
The RAF currently operates a 10-strong fleet of GA-ASI MQ-9 Reaper UAVs, but will transition to the Protector later in 2025. The force will operate a total of 16 Protectors, of which 10 have been delivered so far (four are in the UK; six are being used for test and evaluation in the United States).
