Wasn't there a missile defense for both the US and Soviets?

First time seeing this movie, and it's really a later version of those bad 70s disaster films.

Didn't they explain Automated Reaction System (ARS) as a missile defense system, stating that both sides now had it as a deterrent (not MAD, which is what was really the case). It was described as Star Wars, a few years before the system was popularized by Regan (which didn't exist).