"So we are paying a couple billion to remanufacture our helicopters into something with essentially the same capabilities, and reduce the fleet from 66 to 50. Sounds like the MOD"
Yes, and it makes complete sense. Firstly, to retain the same capability against different / improved threats requires upgrades just to keep pace - the E has adopted some important UK philosophy in mission avionics, making it a closer fit to our needs. Secondly, as HEDP describes, obsolescence management is critical to maintaining a fleet's capability. By moving closer to the US we can benefit from cost reductions thanks to the US Army's multi year purchases. The UK has decided that the US requirements are close enough to justify the move on a Cost Benefit Analysis. This is not always the case; we went bespoke on the CH47 as the change to TTPs due to very different avionics was deemed unacceptable in the final anaysis at the time.
Going European is no guarantee of quality nor interoperability. Several NH90/Tiger users are unhappy with the cabs, and the Dutch have operated Apache for several years.