The MS-06S Zaku II Commander Type was intended to reflect the design concept of the high mobility R Type - first proposed in U.C. 0076 as development of local warfare mobile suits began - using the production facilities for the MS-06F Zaku II. Because of this, in addition to being a high performance unit, it also served as a technical field trial unit in the enhancement of mobile suit mobility. The development of the S Type was led by Elliot Rem, with testing mostly conducted at testing fields at Granada. In order to maintain secrecy, the production of the S Type only took place at the Zeon homeland. Deployment of the S Type took place in the second half of U.C. 0078, mostly to experienced squadron leaders.
In the early stage of the One Year War, Zeon concealed its existence by passing it off as the F Type. Between the Battle of Loum and the signing of the Antarctic Treaty, the S Type achieved impressive battle results. The most famous of which was the unit piloted by Char Aznable, which single-handedly shot down five battleships during the Battle of Loum, earning Char the nickname "Red Comet".