High-performance detection imaging and identification is one of the frontier areas in modern information science. It has developed rapidly in recent years, and the urgent need for its applications has accelerated the development. In this paper, four key areas of high-performance imaging detection and identification, namely multi-dimensional microwave detection imaging, weak signal detection and recognition, multi-mode imaging theory and information reconstruction, and computational imaging theory and methods, are systematically expounded in the areas of concept and content, development status both at home and abroad, current popularity and difficulty, typical applications, and future developing trends. In addition, related scientific issues are discussed and summarized. Although the specific problems faced in each field differ from each other, some common and fundamental issues, which should be investigated, include the interaction mechanism between the imaging measures and the target, the acquisition mechanism of detection-imaging data, and target-feature extraction and reconstruction after detection imaging.