Nurse,
Agreed, and that is where we retun to the question of how the DEC/JHC want to deliver lift - and in most cases operational evaluation has the the CH47 as the capability that best suits the tasks.
I would suggest that why have 3 Commando Sea Kings, with 3 crews and 3 when one aircraft could do the job - especially as those 3 Sea Kings actually do not lift anything as near as much as the CH47.
I reiterate a one for one swap during the re-role (I too believe that in sorting the current operations lift deficit, we should also rectify the NAO reports findings which was most scathing with the lack of amphibious rotary lift - especially if it means that I will not have to go to sea
), and therefore you could have 3 'Commando' CH47s in 3 different places (each with approx 3 Sea Loads per 1 CH47), which surely must increase lift capability significantly than the 3 Commando Sea Kings in 3 different places?