In view of the overall scheme and mission requirements of an amphibious unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) with repeatable water exit,a multi‑cycle propulsion system using pump for water jet propulsion underwater,liquid rocket engine propulsion for water exit,and turbofan engine propulsion for air cruise was proposed.According to the development status and trends of propulsion system technology,the characteristics of different engine cycles,the thrust requirements of each stage and the requirements of multi‑cycle tasks,the study of multi cycle program design methods was carried out,and the typical propulsion system program size,mass,mission profile fuel consumption quality,etc,were calculated.The feasibility of the multi cycle propulsion system scheme and its design method were verified.The results showed that the multi cycle propulsion system scheme designed can meet the repeatable water demand of the unmanned aerial vehicle,in which the energy demand could account for about 26% of the total mass of the whole aerial vehicle.