A coaxial bi-modal imaging system is produced by aligning a microwave transceiver, an optical camera and an antenna array in a coaxial configuration. The microwave transceiver is operable to emit microwave radiation to illuminate an object and to receive reflected microwave radiation reflected from the object to capture a microwave image of the object. The antenna array includes a plurality of antenna elements, each programmable with a respective transmit direction coefficient to direct the microwave radiation emitted from said microwave transceiver toward a target on the object, and each programmable with a respective receive direction coefficient to direct the reflected microwave radiation reflected from said target towards said microwave transceiver. The optical camera is configured to capture an optical image of said object.