The objectives of this paper are to provide a historical perspective of microwave NDE and to review the associated experimental techniques by discussing them in the context of specific applications. The application examples are drawn from the published literature and the author’s own experience. The applications discussed include measurements of layer thicknesses and material parameters, detection and quantification of internal flaws inside dielectric objects, detection and quantification of surface flaws on conductors, and imaging of flaws inside material media. The discussion will seek to clarify the potential advantages and disadvantages of various microwave NDE techniques.