Sandwich structure with metal foam core is a newly emerged sandwich structure in recent years, and will be widely used in near space flight vehicle, navigation and automobile fields due to its high flexural rigidity and strength, multifunction. Theoretical analysis and experimental studies on the indentation response, damage modes, deformation mechanism and failure mechanism of the composite sandwich panel with fibre-reinforced polymer face and aluminum foam core under the action of rigid spherical-end indenter were conducted. Study results show that the load-indentation response is a combined consequence of the individual responses of the sandwich components, their structural interactions and the indenter properties. The failure models of the sandwich panel under the spherical-end cylindrical indenter can be summarized as matrix cracking, fiber fracture, face/core debonding, the yield and shear of the aluminum foam.