The next-hop IP address, if any. If rtmStaticRtAction is 'forward', there may or may not be a next-hop IP address. A next-hop IP address is not required if an output interface index is specified (in other words, if rtmStaticRtIfIndex is non-zero). It is possible to supply a next-hop IP address, but to set the output interface index (rtmStaticRtIfIndex) to zero. In this case - the next hop is referred to as a loose next hop - the next-hop address does not need to be on a directly connected device - if DC-RTM cannot find a route to the specified next-hop address, it does not return the static route on the rtmRouteTable, it does not redistribute the static route to routing protocol managers, and it does not program the static route to a forwarding table (unless the forwarding table has registered to receive loose next hops) or to a partner that is querying route information (such as BGP or PIM). If rtmStaticRtAction is not 'forward', there is no next-hop IP address. If there is no next-hop IP address, the rtmStaticRtNextHop object is set to all zeroes.