I promised myself I wouldn't post this publicly, since it'll just come off as ****-stirring, but I promise it isn't.
As briefly as I can, then: UK defence budget is very roughly 1/10 of US defence budget. Adding up everything I interpreted to be a cargo or search-and-rescue helicopter, and I may have made mistakes doing this, the Americans have more than 2600 available, including things like Chinooks, Black Hawks, V-22s etc.
The UK active military list seems to include... well, let's say rather less than one tenth that number, probably not even one-twentieth that number, even overlooking the enormous number of smaller helicopters the US has available, but nonetheless much more cargo-capable than a Lynx. I pick transport helicopters simply because they're a political hot topic, but the numbers are just overwhelming in other roles as well.
Are we really paying more than twice as much as the Americans to buy, maintain, crew and fly aircraft?