you're changing the argument
Your implication was that the same number of current CHF squadrons as in the past implied the same number of aircraft, and the same capability. Far from it: the actual number of helicopters has dropped. Yet the load they are supposed to lift - 3 Commando Brigade - hasn't really shrunk in size.
How many RAF Merlins are there? 28? When transferred to the Navy, what does that translate to in terms of front-line aircraft?