An arc jet plasma actuator was designed for drag reduction of hypersonic vehicle to achieve better drag reduction effect. The characteristics of the arc jet plasma actuator were simulated numerically by using the finite element method to solve the nonlinear multiple physical equations, and the distributions of potential, pressure, temperature and velocity inside the actuator were obtained, and the influencing effects of velocity at the inlet, current, radius of the pipe on the distributions of potential, pressure, temperature and velocity were analyzed comprehensively. The comprehensive influence laws are obtained, and the simulation shows that the arc jet plasma actuator can produce a plasma jet with a maximum temperature of 8638 K and a maximum velocity of 655 m/s. The minimum power is required when the inlet gas velocity is the least, the maximum average temperature at the exit is obtained when the plasma current is the largest and the inlet gas velocity is medium. The maximum average speed at the exit is obtained at the largest current and the largest inlet gas velocity. Validation by experiment is also carried out. Comparison between the experimental and simulation results also show good agreement under similar plasma parameters.