[dmm]

Shadow99 said:
Actually even modern mines can use IFF (identify friend or foe) signals to turn off mines while they are in the area... I've always assumed each race had it's own IFF frequency and that's included with the basic sensors they give the ship...

Reply:
Some current-day mines do, some don't. That's why you're constantly hearing in the news about the difficulties of getting rid of mines in countries like Bosnia. And the reason isn't always that they used junky old surplus mines. Many of these mines are quite advanced, and IFF was purposely left out. The problem with IFF (in general, not just for mines) is that it can be spoofed if the code is broken, and then either your weapons are useless or else your IFF is useless. Another problem is that allies, and even different weapon platforms in the same military, often use incompatible IFF solutions.