The images – taken at about 11am on Sunday but released on Wednesday – appear to show "three suspected floating objects" of varying sizes, the largest about 24 metres (79 feet) by 22 metres (72 feet), the national defence technology site reported.
It locates them in the sea off the southern tip of Vietnam and east of Malaysia, near the plane's original flight path.
The revelation could provide searchers with a focus that has eluded them since the plane disappeared with 239 people aboard in the early hours of Saturday.
However this is not the first time authorities have announced sightings of objects or oil slicks that they claim might be tied to the missing aircraft.
No other governments have confirmed the latest report, and on Wednesday evening one senior US defence official said that American satellites had not located any sign of a crash.
The crew were responding to information from controllers that the flight was entering Vietnamese airspace and that air traffic controllers from Ho Chi Minh City would take over.
The Malaysian government's envoy to China revealed the last words after being pressed by relatives of Chinese passengers on what information the military had given civil officials. The envoy said now was "not the time" to reveal the last transmission, Singapore's Straits Times reported, but went on to disclose it anyway.
Malaysia has been criticised for giving conflicting and confusing information on the last known location of aircraft. Amid the confusion, Vietnam briefly scaled down search operations in waters off its southern coast, saying it was receiving poor information from Malaysia. Hanoi later said the search was back on in full force and was even extending on to land.
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