[snippy_about_it]

Self-destructing mines are designed to automatically explode after a preset time. They are used largely by military forces to shape the battlefield and to be destroyed once troops have moved beyond areas of confrontation. They are intended to minimize the long-term scope of danger to civilians. However, one of the limitations of these self-destructing mines is that they are not sufficiently reliable. Civilians are frequently maimed or killed if they are near the epicenter of an explosion at the time of self-denotation.

Self-neutralizing mines, a variation of self-destructing mines, are also designed to reduce the danger of land mines. These mines defuse themselves after a period of time without exploding. However, their neutralizing mechanism is not 100 percent assured and individuals who locate these mines are unable to determine whether or not they have been neutralized. Combined, these two factors make self-neutralizing mines an even less favorable alternative than self-destructing mines.

You've forced me to learn more. LOL. It's a good thing.

I'm taking an uneducated guess here. From what I've been reading there was a limit to the time period for automatic detonation. One article said up to fifteen days. Perhaps we didn't know how long the areas would need to be mined and chose to not use sterilizers.

[PeterPrinciple]

Thanks for the good info. Article said that some mines activated in 30 days so I assumed there would be a similar or longer time to deactivate.

My logic still says I would rather have them self destruct in 30 or 90 days than have them floating around when doing an invasion. You've satisfied my curiosity today.