Romulan technology

Romulan technology was often cited as one of the reasons why the Romulan Star Empire was regarded as such a dangerous foe in times of war. The Romulans were known to have developed a multitude of different technologies that are either the first of their kind or unique to the Romulan Star Empire. Some Romulan technology was regarded highly enough that the Federation even resorted to stealing an example of the cloaking device in 2268. 

The cloaking device
The Romulans were the first known race to develop the cloaking device stealth technology, first observed on Romulan mines and the Romulan Bird-of-Prey in 2152. 

While the Suliban were known to use cloaking devices by 2151, this technology was provided by a mysterious benefactor from the 29th century and was not developed by their race. 

During the brief Romulan-Klingon Alliance in 2268, the Klingon Empire provided the Romulans with an unknown number of the battle cruiser in order to acquire Romulan cloaking technology. 

The Romulans and the Federation long engaged in a tech war of cloak and cloak detection. In 2152, a quantum beacon proved an effective counter measure for detecting less advanced cloaks such as those found on Romulan mines, but not those on early Romulan Birds-of-Prey. In 2368, the Federation developed the tachyon detection grid, a technique that allowed for the detection of Romulan vessels of the day. 

By 2379, the Star Empire had perfected the cloaking technology. The cloak of the Reman Warbird Scimitar produced no tachyon emissions and left no residual antiproton traces for detection. The Scimitar was the only vessel in the Star Empire known to have overcome the long standing problem of not being able to raise shields or fire weapons when the cloaking device was active. The only known way to counter these latest cloaks involved the use of telepathic races such as Betazoids to detect an enemy crew by sensing their thoughts. 

Multispectral emitters
Holographic projector technology equipped on the Romulan drone-ship, a multispectral emitter was used as a camouflage system. The emitters could produce a holographic image that could mimic the appearance of almost any ship. When activated, the emitters made it nearly impossible for an enemy to acquire a target lock on the ship's primary systems, such as weapons, although the emitters themselves could be targeted. 

Tri-phasic emitters
Equipped on board the Romulan drone-ship, tri-phasic emitters could simulate different types of weapons used by various other races, including both disruptor and phase weapon based technologies. 

Site to site holographic emitters
This technology could capture live sounds and images of a person in one location and project those images to another location. Images and sound from that second location could be detected and transmitted back to the first location, making two way interaction possible.

The first known use of these emitters was in 2379 when Shinzon of Remus requested the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-E) to stand down its defenses and surrender Captain Jean-Luc Picard to the Scimitar. The source of the hologram once projected was untraceable. 

An image could be sent from a ship that was under cloak and the technology was known to be able to penetrate the deflector shields of a starship. The emitters were only observed when used between ships in relatively close proximity. When used by Shinzon, his hologram was seemingly able to sit in a chair but also pass through a table. 

Weapons
Romulan weapons were described by Spock in 2266 as being superior to those of the Federation. 

Disruptors
The Romulans were one of three races along with the Klingons and the Breen who were known to use the Type 3 disruptor. 

When fired, a Romulan disruptor left behind residual antiproton particles that remained for several hours. 

Plasma torpedoes
First known to have been used by the Romulans in 2266, plasma torpedoes were an extremely powerful yet energy-intensive weapon system. This type of high-energy plasma weapon was first encountered by Starfleet when a Romulan Bird-of-Prey destroyed several Federation outposts near the Romulan Neutral Zone.

Upon detonation, the torpedo unleashed an enveloping energy plasma, forcing an implosion in the target. Even rodinium, the hardest material known to the Federation, could not withstand the effect. One torpedo was capable of devastating outposts sunk a mile deep on asteroids of near solid iron, even when protected by deflector shields. A second torpedo could then turn these asteroids to dust. The weapon was capable of following a vessel going to warp speed. The range of the torpedoes was extreme, but limited - when the Bird-of-Prey fired on the Enterprise, the Starfleet vessel was able to maneuver out of its most effective range, so that when it did hit them, its effectiveness had dissipated and the damage to the Enterprise was fairly minor. 

The only other races to have used plasma torpedoes are the Kazon and the Cardassians, but the first documented usage of plasma torpedoes by these races comes more than a century after the Romulans, in the early 2370s. 

Thalaron generator
This super weapon was capable of creating a thalaron radiation field large enough to encompass a ship or an entire planet.

Previously thought to be simply theoretical by Federation scientists, research into thalaron radiation was banned by the Federation sometime prior to 2379 due to its biogenic properties. Thalaron radiation consumed organic material at the subatomic level, causing instant and complete necrosis in every cell it irradiated. A matter of seconds after exposure, the organism degenerated into an ash-like material. Even a minuscule amount of thalaron radiation could kill every living being aboard a starship. 

Shields
Standard Romulan deflector shields were believed to be at least on par with those of the Federation. However, the most advanced example of shield technology in the Romulan Star Empire was present on the Scimitar, which was equipped with both primary and secondary shields. The ship endured at least thirty-two phaser hits, twenty disruptor strikes, and twenty torpedo impacts in a single engagement at the Battle of the Bassen Rift, exhausting the weapons complement of the Enterprise-E, and was still able to maintain 70% shield strength. 

Ship self-repair technology
The Romulans were known to be able to equip their ships with a self-repair technology, principally used on the Romulan drone-ship in 2154. 

Remote ship control
In 2154, the Romulans possessed the technology to facilitate the control of ships by remote telepresence. The only race known to possess the telepathic ability to actually control a ship in such a way were the Aenar, a subspecies of the Andorians. As the Aenar were strictly pacifist, one (Gareb) had to be kidnapped and drugged for the technology to be put to use. 

Artificial quantum singularity reactor
In the 24th century, an artificial quantum singularity served as the primary power source for large Romulan spacecraft, such as the Warbird. Once activated, the singularity core could not be shut down. 

A relay station network of ancient origin, claimed by the Hirogen, was the only other known example of a race using quantum singularities as a power source.