  The trend for Urban Air Mobility (UAM) is growing with prospective air taxis,
parcel deliverers, and medical and industrial services. Safe and efficient UAM
operation relies on timely communication and reliable data exchange. In this
paper, we explore Cooperative Perception (CP) for Unmanned Aircraft Systems
(UAS), considering the unique communication needs involving high dynamics and a
large number of UAS. We propose a hybrid approach combining local broadcast
with a central CP service, inspired by centrally managed U-space and broadcast
mechanisms from automotive and aviation domains. In a simulation study, we show
that our approach significantly enhances the environmental awareness for UAS
compared to fully distributed approaches, with an increased communication
channel load, which we also evaluate. These findings prompt a discussion on
communication strategies for CP in UAM and the potential of a centralized CP
service in future research.
