We demonstrate that in a short Ar cell, generation of the fifth harmonic from $12\mathrm{fs}$ pulses at $810\mathrm{nm}$ directly results in ultrashort vacuum UV pulses at $162\mathrm{nm}$ . They have a spectral width of $\sim 5\mathrm{nm}$ and a duration of $11\pm 1\mathrm{fs}$ (1.4 times the transform limit), as measured by cross correlation with the fundamental pulses. Their energy (estimated to $4\mathrm{nJ}$ ) turned out to be sufficient for use as a pump in time-resolved experiments.