March 5, 2023: South Korea has developed a new Baekho experimental mobile command post that uses a K808 8x8 armored vehicle to carry the command personnel and the large array of radio, sensors and computers they use to assess the situation and issue orders.. Mobile command posts have been common since automobiles began entering military use over a century ago. While there was little demand for mobile command posts during the static World War I, by the time that conflict ended in 1918, mobile warfare was returning in the form of armored combat vehicles. Some of these were designed to carry troops safely to the combat zone. It took decades for armies to become completely mechanized (transported on armored and unarmored wheeled vehicles) and during that process it was found necessary for some commanders to use a mobile command post so they could stay close to and control the fighting. By this time (the 1930s) long range radios were small enough to fit into one of these armored personnel carriers. This type of mobile command post was widely used during World War II and continued to evolve and be used ever since.

This brings us to the South Korean Baekho command vehicle, which carries a large assortment of radios, sensors and computers to assist a commander in a combat zone. In 2020 South Korean combat vehicle manufacturer Hyundai won the contract to build the third and last batch of K808 and K806 wheeled combat vehicles. The last of these was delivered in 2023. Hyundai designed the K808/806 vehicles, which won a design competition with two other South Korean firms. All three firms can build these vehicles, which is why there was a competition for each batch. Hyundai had an edge and used it to win all three batch orders. The K808 is an 8x8 wheeled combat vehicle similar to the American Stryker in design and function. The K806 is a 6x6 version of the K808 and intended for rear area defense.

The first 600 K808/806 vehicles began arriving in 2016 in batches of up to 200 vehicles. Hyundai has an assembly line that can build about a hundred of these vehicles a year. The second and third batches incorporate modifications suggested or required based on experience with earlier vehicles.

Most (500) of the vehicles delivered are the 20-ton 8x8 K808, which carries 12 (two crew and ten passengers) and is armed with a 30mm autocannon and 7.62mm machine-gun. The K808 has a top road speed of 110 kilometers an hour and in water can do ten kilometers an hour. The 16-ton 6x6 K806 is mainly for reconnaissance and internal security. The K806 can also carry twelve and is armed with a 40mm automatic grenade launcher and 7.62mm machine-gun.

Development of the K806 and K808 began in 2012 when the South Korean army asked Hyundai for locally designed wheeled armored vehicles similar to the American Stryker. This meant a successful design was guaranteed an army order and production could begin quickly. Hyundai had actually designed the K808 in 2012 with their own money, believing that the South Korean forces might need it and the export markets definitely sought this type of combat vehicle.

Private development of combat vehicles, including experimental models like Baekho for local use as well as for export, is common in East Asia. Several Chinese firms do it and another South Korean manufacturer (Doosan) that created the South Korean Army K21 tracked IFV (Infantry Fighting Vehicle) went ahead and developed the 18 ton, 8x8 Black Fox, mainly for the export market. Black Fox could be equipped with the turret from the K21. This, in effect, creates a wheeled armored vehicle carrying light artillery (a 40mm autoloading cannon). This weapon fires up to 300 rounds per minute, at speeds of 1,000 meters per second (3,100 fps). The Black Fox has a crew of three and carries nine passengers. Fox was built in the hopes of snagging domestic or foreign sales and it, and similar Doosan wheeled armored vehicles, have done just that. But Doosan found that cheaper was always an easier sell so vehicles like Black Fox also come in less expensive and lighter 6x6 versions. The Doosan vehicles were meant for export markets although they were proposed as candidates to be the South Korean Stryker. The Doosan vehicles lost out to the K808 and K806.

The losers in these competitions survive by concentrating on exports. This system has worked for China and South Korea, the two largest weapons manufacturers and exporters in East Asia. Japan is seeking to join this club as well, but had to overcome several unique problems to do so. First, Japan had to amend its post-World War II constitution that prohibited exporting weapons. This was done in 2012, but with three conditions: No weapons could be exported to a communist government, a nation under a UN arms embargo or a country at war or about to get involved in one. That last condition is often applied with some flexibility. These three restrictions still leave Japan with plenty of export opportunities. All Japan has to do is resolve their other problem. For over half a century Japan has been building and increasingly developing weapons for its own armed forces. With no incentive to keep costs under control, so that exports could compete, Japanese built weapons tended to be very expensive. The government considered this good domestic politics, but it made them uncompetitive in price elsewhere. Japanese arms companies face difficult adjustments to compete in world markets.

Currently there are weapons being developed and produced in East Asia because so many countries see China as a threat. In other words, an arms race. The is leading to more new developments, like the Baekho mobile command post vehicle.