the first part of minefield has two bugs, one is that the mission isn't recognizing that any of the squadrons are being destroyed, and the other is that on of the Birds of Prey is stuck in an asteriod and cant be targeted but it can still fire on you...
And even aborting/ restarting wont work...

I'm experiencing the same issue with the bird of prey stuck in the asteroid. Even a reset didn't help.

Me too! Tried dropping the mission and then accepting it again when offered, and the same Bird of Prey stuck in an asteroid shooting at me, but I can't target it. I thought it was just me!

Ignore the one in the asteroid. You don't have to kill him. Just stay out of his range. The two with him don't need to be destroyed either... just head for the Mogai, kill it, and then the next two waves will come in.

I had the same problem last night - 3 times!

I'll try your work-around tonight Velktra. Thanks.

I had the same problem. I ejected my plasma field and destryed the bird of prey that way. Now It wont let me tag the crates.!!!!

This. Anything before the Mogai attacking the colony is purely extras. The waves won't start until you destoy it first.