While I agree with you on one level - You could be looking at this the wrong way, to publicly expose a new capability may change the operational doctrine of potential opponents to their detriment, or put them off trying anything all together. That's real power projection and does do the crews a favour.
and if it does lead to more 'cabs' being sold then having a large user base is another advantage. There's one disadvantage the Rafale is desperately trying to overcome now and may get lucky at the Paris Airshow..
Cheers