suicide mission

plural suicide missions

1. governmentA task which is so dangerous for the people involved that they are not expected to survive.

   He said savagely, "We're apt to catch it anyway—here. You're immune, you don't care, you're safe! The rest of us are on a suicide mission—and damn it, when I die I want to take a few of those monkeys with me!"

   1958 November, Marion Zimmer Bradley, “The Planet Savers”, in Amazing Stories

   1 more example

   The soldiers, from a unit north of Baghdad, told family members that they considered the convoy destined for Taji to be a "suicide mission", citing the poor condition of their vehicles and the absence of ground and air support to protect the convoy.

   2004 October 16, Dan Glaister, “Doubts about US morale in Iraq as troops refuse 'suicide mission'”, in The Guardian, →ISSN