Senator Ted Kennedy is credited with creating the nickname "Star Wars" to mock the project: http://web.archive.org/web/20090227050446/https://www.smdc.army.mil

Senator Ted Kennedy is credited with creating the nickname "Star Wars" to mock the project: http://web.archive.org/web/20090227050446/https://www.smdc.army.mil/2008/Historical/Eagle/WheredowegetStarWars.pdf http://web.archive.org/web/20090227050446/https://www.smdc.a... The nickname does indeed refer to the movies, which were released a few years earlier.