Vacuum ultraviolet laser emission was obtained from highly ionized noble gases using a simple longitudinal discharge device. Electric discharge excitation pulses with 500 ns duration and peak current density up to 14 000 A/cm2produced lasing on five argon and krypton ion transitions below 200 nm. The two strongest emissions exhibited 0.1–1 kW peak power from Kr IV at 195.027 nm and 175.641 nm.