The Malaysian government confirmed Wednesday that a British nuclear submarine will join the search for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370.

"Britain will send HMS Tireless, a Trafalgar-class nuclear submarine with sonar capabilities, to help in the multinational search operation for MH370," the Malaysian Transport Ministry said in a statement.

The announcement was made by British Secretary of State for Defense Phillip Hammond at a phone call with Malaysian Defense Minister and acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein earlier Wednesday, according to the statement.

Flight MH370 went missing on March 8 en route from Kuala Lumper to Beijing, with its whereabouts still unknown after more than three weeks' search.