Purely IMHO, but I think another factor is the ‘military mindset’ and that the key decision makers (Generals, etc), although usually smart people who make good decisions, tend to view things through a ‘last war’ or even the war before that prism:
i.e. in this case - Attack helicopters have always been good (cold war scenarios), so attack helicopters will always be good. Not necessarily the case when some of the fundamental ‘rules’ have changed?